CCTV footage released of David Bowie statue vandalism
Video footage has been released of the David Bowie statue in Aylesbury being vandalised.
Music promoter and David Bowie aficionado David Stopps, who started the crowdfunding campaign to fund the £100,000 sculpture, released the CCTV footage to the media last night.
Lasting around three minutes, it shows what appears to be a man wearing casual attire, a hat and a scarf/mask around his face approach the statue at 12.45am on Tuesday morning (27th March).
He then proceeds to wrote ‘RIP DB’ on the wall and spray the statue itself before writing his main message of ‘Feed the homeless first’ on the surrounding pavement.
Still not finished, he then sprays another ‘RIP DB’ on the wall before daubing more crude spray-paint over the statue.
Locals and Bowie fans worked tirelessly yesterday to remove the offending paint from the piece – entitled Earthly Messenger in Aylesbury’s Market Square.
You can watch the vandal at work (sped up eight times here):
> Less than 48 hours after the David Bowie statue was unveiled in Aylesbury, it was vandalised.
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> This CCTV footage shows the moment it happened. https://t.co/NApp6oYYbG pic.twitter.com/aIHyMa6t6i
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> — BBC Three Counties (@BBC3CR) March 27, 2018
Meanwhile, a David Bowie superfan has said he will donate £5,000 to the homeless if the vandal turns himself in to police.
Alex Laurent, who runs more than 100 David Bowie tribute groups and donated to fund the sculpture, told Bucks Herald: “Let’s see if they have the conviction to be convicted.
“I am saddened and embarrassed by my fellow Brits actions, but accept this could happen easily elsewhere in the world.
“Having worked for David Bowie for many years, I can say that he was not a person that would encourage a statue, but he was fiercely British and loved his country.”
Sculptor Andrew Sinclair told Metro.co.uk: “I don’t think the vandal thought about it and can’t face up to what he has done.
“I think he was stupid and ill-informed and if he really believes in that why doesn’t he start a kickstarter campaign.
“It’s totally stupid because not a penny is public taxpayer money and that has been very clear from the beginning. The campaign focused on Bowie fans and what he has done is mind-blowingly stupid.”
The visually striking statue was designed and sculpted by Andrew Sinclair and features speakers mounted above the life-size piece playing a Bowie song every hour between 9am and 9pm.
With Ziggy Stardust jumping out at the fore, incarnations of Bowie featured include the Pierrot costume from the ‘Ashes To Ashes’ video, Jareth the Goblin King from the movie Labyrinth and, more recently, Bowie with a bandage and buttons sewn over his eyes from the ‘Lazarus’ video.