Ever wonder who the vandals are who destroy public sculpture? Who the ruffians are who mangle defenseless bronze and batter and paint helpless marble? Most of us, I think, view them as young males, deficient in education and financial resources, who are bored to tears and have to take it out on someone- or something. We have no tolerance for them, and often wish that the same fate would befall them. We do, after all, identify with a lot of the "furniture" that fills our public spaces.
But consider the case of Paul Kelleher, a London theatre producer, who was sentenced to three months in jail a year ago next week. On the morning of July 3, 2002, he dropped his son off at day care, purchased a heafty cricket bat and headed for the London Guildhall where a statue of Maggie Thatcher stood, waiting out her time before she could be installed in a gallery in Lords. And with the bat he smote that sculpture, but it popped off her, causing no harm. Frustrated, he picked up a crowd control post and repeated the action. This time, the head came clean off and he waited patiently for the guards and police to arrive. For this was no loiterer carried away by the moment and opportunity. This was a man with a mission. He was infuriated and depressed by the state of the British government and the collapse of social and economic programs during the headship of Mrs. Thatcher. So he did the only thing he could think of that would combine his frustration, a clear shot at the media to state his concerns and totally symbolic retribution for what she had done to the country. And he got it.
His cause was taken up worldwide. Petitiononline.org gather 355 signatures for clemency. Newspapers around the world ran letters from citizens and ex-pats on the correctness of the action, with more than one suggesting it was a shame to restrain himself to the image only. Thatcher herself was disgusted.
(Photo from the BBC News website)
9:31:05 AM 
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