A 29-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage after an English David Bowie statue was vandalised once again.
Back in March, a statue of David Bowie was unveiled to the public. Located in Aylesbury, England, this particular town was chosen due to it being the place where David Bowie first introduced the world to his Ziggy Stardust persona.
The statue, which depicts David Bowie looking upon himself at different stages of his career, was the result of a Kickstarter campaign by Bowie fan and music promoter David Stopps. The campaign originally asked for £100,000, but eventually raised a total of £119,000.
Less than 48 hours after its unveiling, the statue was vandalised with a number of spray-painted phrases, including “RIP DB”, and “Feed the Homeless First,” seemingly ignoring the fact that the statue was completely funded by donations, with no public money spent on it.
“I was very disappointed that this has happened, but when I went to see it; it could have been a lot worse,” Stopps explained to radio station Mix96, who also released surveillance footage of the incident.
“The paint was on the statue, the wall behind and on the pavement. It was about the homeless – but I do quite a lot for the homeless, which is the irony of the whole thing.”
Now, as The Bucks Herald reports, the statue was vandalised yet again last week, with blue paint being thrown over the tribute this time.
https://twitter.com/TVP_Aylesbury/status/1050732054428770304?
While David Stopps originally shared footage of the latest bout of vandalism online, it has since been taken offline following the arrest of a 29-year-old man in connection with the incident.
Local police shared an appeal for the public to be on the lookout for anyone who may have been connected to the recent attack on the statue. “If you recognise any of the symbols in the photos, please let us know,” requested PC Terry Lewis. “I would also like to encourage anyone who owns a CCTV camera in this area to review the footage from Wednesday night into Thursday morning.”
While the statue originally received a small amount of criticism for the public – namely for its odd design and the initial decision for it to play music – most have accepted the statue for the loving tribute that it is
“It’s been positively overwhelming actually,” explained designer Andrew Sinclair earlier this year. “Out of thousands and thousands we’ve had two people who don’t like it. That’s actually unbelievable. It’s a huge relief to have the piece finally in and being appreciated by the public.”
“He’s been there all my life, and I can state to you very honestly that two of my favourite tracks of all time are ‘Space Oddity’ and ‘Life On Mars’.”
