Vandalised rock snake to return permanently to Black Country park
A family in the Black Country have been given permission to create a permanent rock snake after the original one was vandalised.
More than 400 rocks had been left at King George VI park in Kingswinford with residents in the area constantly adding to it.
But some rocks were removed by vandals, with teenagers said to have been throwing them into a pond, and then others removed their own rocks fearing they could also be thrown away.
Now the rock snake is set to become a permanent fixture of the park – with people urged to add their rocks to the artwork.
Gemma Parsons, who started the snake with her sons Thomas Bagley, aged six, and Benjamin Bagley, three, said it was "devastating" at first.
She said: "It got to over 400 rocks – which my six-year-old painstakingly counted and people kept adding more and more.
"One of my neighbours messaged me and said there was some teenagers throwing the rocks into the duck pond – and within a week it was all gone.
"Some people had taken them back once it was vandalised, but the others were sadly thrown away it seems.
"We were really disappointed it had happened because we went and looked at it every day and they [Thomas and Benjamin] had contributedtoo.
"It was something to look at it and it really got you talking – and even when I went jogging around I used to see someone looking at it.
"It was a bit devastating for us."
It prompted the 38-year-old, alongside her sister Rhianna Parsons, to contact Councillor Ed Lawrence who helped them push for a permanent exhibit.
Gemma said: "I had the discussions with the council and they said could give us a plot but we had to do the work ourselves, which was fine.
"They said I've got three months – they've given us a section of land on the bank and they've allowed us to cement it in sections, so we can keep adding to it."
The family – including Rhianna's four-year-old son Felix – are now looking forward to seeing the rock snake back in the park.
