A second sculpture in a public art trail has been damaged within as many days, a Whittington charity has confirmed.
St Giles Hospice’s March of the Elephants event has seen the decorated animals placed at locations across Lichfield, Sutton Coldfield and Tamworth.
But after the Vince sculpture was removed when it was damaged on the first day, the charity has now confirmed the Tamworth Pigs artwork as also been taken away from its location at Tamworth Castle due to vandalism.
A spokesperson for St Giles Hospice said:
“This is the second sculpture that has been damaged in just two days. We’re all truly lost for words.
“March of the Elephants was launched just yesterday and while we’ve been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support the trail has received so far, we’re really heartbroken that the actions of the few could ruin it for the many.
“We’ve worked so hard along with our amazing artists, sponsors, schools and community groups, to bring our beautiful elephants to Lichfield, Tamworth and Sutton Coldfield, so we’re urging everyone in our community to help us keep our herd safe.
“Our elephants are works of art, to be admired but not climbed on.”
St Giles Hospice spokesperson
Anyone spotting damage to the elephants on the trail is asked to call 01543 434027.
The sculptures will be auctioned off to raise money for the hospice once the showcase ends in September.
“To all of our dedicated trail-goers, we’re sincerely grateful for your continued support and we’re so sorry that we’ve had to share such bad news again.
“We really hope that Vince and Tamworth Pigs will be able to join us back on the trail, but if you’d like to ‘collect’ them on the app in the meantime, please use the following code 7549 for Vince and 1412 for Tamworth Pigs.
“We’ve also had a number of supporters generously offer to make a donation following the damage, so we’ve set up a JustGiving page.”
St Giles Hospice spokesperson
How disgusting that this should happen, let’s hope the people involved never need St Giles support for themselves or their family. It’s a reminder of how feral some people have become, truly awful.
There truly are some mindless people about. Maybe where these truly beautiful pieces of art are located could be covered by CCTV from local shops or other businesses.
Mindless morons who are trying to achieve 5 minutes of fame.
As the Great Man – fellwalker Alfred Wainwright – once said about cairn wreckers on the fells “let’s face it, to be fair to them, doing things like this is about the only ay they can make a name for themselves”.