Over the past few months, thousands of visitors and passersby have shared their appreciation for the brilliantly sculptured driftwood birds created by Langford resident, Paul Lewis.
But on Tuesday night, vandals decided to steal and damage several of the statues, leaving Lewis to find their remains on Wednesday morning.
“Last night three of the birds were stolen,” Lewis wrote on Facebook. “The hummingbird, the oystercatcher, and the baby osprey. And the cormorant’s head was ripped off and body damaged.”
His Facebook post led people to denounce the saboteurs and voice their support of Lewis. It was also shared hundreds of times by people who love and follow his work.
And so, within a few short hours, Lewis had already fixed one of the sculptures and built a new hummingbird to replace one that had been stolen!
The vandalism:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2082189938471496&set=pcb.2082190161804807&type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2082190031804820&set=pcb.2082190161804807&type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2082190131804810&set=pcb.2082190161804807&type=3&theater
The aftermath:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2082322235124933&set=pcb.2082322435124913&type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2082322308458259&set=pcb.2082322435124913&type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2082322401791583&set=pcb.2082322435124913&type=3&theater
Rest assured, our new favourite local art pieces are back to being intact and will hopefully grace the beach for many moons to come.