Vandal's googly eye prank costs bend $1,500 in art repairs
A vandal appears at large in the city of Bend, Oregon, decorating city sculptures with plastic eyes. Although it may seem amusing, removing them is costly and requires special care to avoid damaging the art.
The Bend authorities have issued an appeal on social media to those responsible for placing plastic eyes on city sculptures, such as the statue of two deer or a metal sphere. In their statement, they explained that while adding eyes brings smiles to residents' faces, it also incurs additional costs.
"Googly eyes on our artworks may seem funny, but removing them without harming the sculptures is costly," city council representatives wrote in the post.
Residents divided
Numerous voices have supported the "decorations" on social media. One wrote, "But they're so funny!" Another added, "The eyes must stay." However, city authorities point out that similar incidents, such as previous decorations with holiday wreaths or Santa hats, were not as problematic because they did not involve glue or substances that could damage the art.
"We didn't endorse the wreaths or Santa hats, but let's stay away from glues, graffiti, and other things that could destroy our artworks," the post explained.
Costly operation
So far, city authorities have spent $1,500 to carefully remove googly eyes from seven out of eight targeted sculptures.
The city council leader emphasized that while councilors want residents to enjoy city art, they also care about its protection. "We want art to be a space for the community to have fun, but we don't want it to be destroyed," he added.
The authorities hope their appeal reaches residents and ends this unusual problem.
Source: bbc.co.uk
