Just a couple of days ago, the world received its first-ever statue of David Bowie in the English town of Aylesbury. Now, just 48 hours after it was first unveiled to the public, the statue has already been defaced.
The new statue was revealed just a few days ago on March 25th, in Aylesbury, England, 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.
“When he left us in January 2016, there was an amazing immediate outpouring of emotion in the town about it,” Stopps said at the time. “We thought we must do something as a monument for the town and David Bowie.”
However, as NME notes, the statue has since been defaced with graffiti, less than 48 hours of it first being unveiled.
The vandalism includes 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.
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“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 have also released surveillance footage of the incident. “We’re busy cleaning it up now.”
“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.”
Deputy Mayor Mark Willis also expressed his disappointment of the incident, reiterating that no public funds were spent on the statue. “That’s right, £0. It was entirely funded through crowdfunding, by members of the public, myself included.”
“One of the charities I support monthly is Shelter as homelessness and poverty are absolute scourges on society that need solving.”
The statue is currently in the process of being cleaned, and is expected to be back to its former condition in a few days.
Check out footage of the Davie Bowie statue vandalism:
