Elephant sculpture 'deliberately' damaged in Lichfield as charity art trail launched
A hospice charity has said it is "heartbroken" after a sculpture which formed part of an art trail to raise vital funds was "deliberately" damaged "beyond immediate repair".
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St Giles Hospice has had to remove the art piece from its position in Bore Street, Lichfield, after it was found "severely damaged" on the morning of the launch of its art trail.
The elephant sculpture, named "Vince", is believed to have been harmed between Sunday and Monday.
It is one of more than 70 which have been placed across Lichfield, Tamworth and Sutton Coldfield to raise money for the charity.
When the art trail comes to an end in September, the pieces are set to be sold at auction with a starting price of around £3,000.
Georgia Haynes, project event manager at St Giles Hospice, said the charity believe the sculpture was damaged "deliberately".
She said: "It is with great sadness that we announce one of our beloved sculptures, 'Vince', was damaged on the first day of the trail.
"Unfortunately, 'Vince' is too badly injured to remain on the trail at this time. We are heartbroken by this incident.
"Despite this setback, all our other sculptures are out and about and are being adored by our local community.
"We hope everyone will continue to enjoy finding and interacting with them. These friendly creatures need to be treated with respect. We kindly ask all trail-goers to be gentle and refrain from climbing or swinging on the sculptures."
The sculptures have each been uniquely decorated by local and national artists, schools, and community groups, with "Vince" created by artist Jenny Marshall.
The damaged sculpture was also sponsored by Davisons Law and positioned outside of the business' office in Lichfield.
Ms Haynes added that the hospice is "determined" not to let the incident "spoil the trail".
She continued: "At this point in time, we’re not sure on the extent of the damage but are working diligently to hopefully have 'Vince' back on display as soon as possible.
"We are so sorry to any of our trail-goers who have made special journeys to meet ‘Vince’."
The charity later announced that a second elephant sculpture had been damaged in Tamworth and said in a post to Facebook that it was "truly lost for words".
The art trail, named "March of the Elephants", sees participants asked to download an interactive app for £1.99 from the App Store or Google Play, which all proceeds donated to the hospice.
People can also purchase trail maps from St Giles charity shops or from the Lichfield Maize Maze.
St Giles Hospice said Staffordshire Police has been informed of the incident in Lichfield and has asked those with information, images and CCTV footage to call the force 111.
An online fundraiser has been set up to raise money in place of the damaged elephants being unfit for auction.
People can donate by visiting justgiving.com/campaign/marchoftheelephants
