Vandal scandal!

Mean-spirited act hits solstice event





By KIMBERLY CRAYTON-BROWN

RIVERTON'S Winter Solstice celebrations were derailed yesterday after the centrepiece of the event was stolen.
The six-metre tall driftwood artwork, worth about $2000, was on loan from Riverton artist Wayne Hill and was to be set on fire as part of the inaugural event.
The figure had been designed with a corrugated iron cape , which was to act as a "fire vessel". After this had been set on fire, the main part of the sculpture would have remained intact.
Witnesses in the museum foyer said a man had cut the sculpture down with a chainsaw, then loaded it onto the back of a trailer and driven away.
Police located the person who had taken the sculpture hours after it had been stolen but it was damaged beyond repair.
Organiser Robert Guyton said the sculpture looked "quite forlorn".
"I have no idea why anybody would have been so mean-spirited" he said.
Last week another Wayne Hill sculpture "mysteriously" appeared during the night.
It was not taken by the man yesterday, but he pulled it out of the sand and "cast aside", Mr Guyton said.
"We put it back in the sand but it does look rather lonely", he said.
He had hoped both sculptures would become a semi-permanent feature in the Riverton Estuary, and said there had been a lot of positive feedback about them in the short time they had been there.
"We've had such tremendous support for it. Even in the museum itself people have commented on the structures."
Mr Guyton said he was particularly disappointed as the man's "unfriendly intentions" had ruined a community event.
"So many people were looking forward to it; it's the worst thing to happen."

16 Tuesday June 22, 2010 NEWS Southland Times.