Vandals target bend sculptures with googly eyes, costs soar
A vandal is at large in Bend, Oregon, "decorating" city sculptures with plastic eyes. Although this may seem amusing, removing the eyes is costly and requires special care to avoid damaging the art.
The Bend authorities have appealed 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 adding eyes brings smiles to residents' faces and 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
There have been numerous voices of support for the "decorations" on social media. One person wrote, "But they're so funny!" "The eyes must stay," said another. 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," it was explained in the post.
Costly operation
So far, city authorities have spent roughly £1,230 to carefully remove googly eyes from seven out of eight targeted sculptures.
The city council leader emphasised that while councillors 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
