Cruel vandals decapitate pig statue with paving slab
It has overlooked Pound Road for almost 30 years.
But the pig on the wall outside Eric and Shirley Stanford's home has been decapitated by vandals.
The pink pig stone statue was broken when a paving slab was thrown at it, before the slab was put through the couple's lounge window.
The pair had put the ornament up to commemorate the pig small-holding which stood behind their home before they purchased it, but it has become a local landmark with people linking it to the well-known Black Country 'pig on the wall' story.
The vandalism took place in the early hours on November 17, but the pair still have no clue why the pig, and their home, were targeted.
Mr Stanford, a 73-year-old retired builder and skittle alley worker, said: "It's mindless, it makes no sense. We still can't work out why someone or people would have done this.
"It wasn't simply a pig on the wall, it was also an ornament to mark the home's history.
"People were well aware of it and used it as a marker on the road.
"Since it has been decapitated we've had many people come to us voicing their sadness at what has happened. We're upset too."
The couple purchased the home in 1984 from the family of pig farmer Archie Hawkswood, who had died four years before the sale.
They renovated the house before placing the pink pig on a wall overlooking the road. They also have two sows in their back garden.
Mrs Stanford, 68, said: "We want to know why someone has done this.
"We don't know if to put a new one up, in case someone had a feeling against it and would vandalise it again."
The couple, who have one son, say the cost of the damage to their home is about £100.
Police are investigating the vandalism.
The pig on the wall legend stems from Lower Gornal, where it is said a military band once marched through the area and a resident put his pig on the wall to give it a better view.
Today, people put ornaments of the animal outside their homes.
A hotel in Upper Gornal changed its name from Bricklayer's Arms to Pig on the Wall in 1985, but has since been demolished.
