Earlier this week, the new David Bowie statue was unveiled by Steve Hogarth. The statue was built in honor of the iconic rock star and his connection with Aylesbury, where he allegedly performed first as Ziggy Stardust.
Less than 48 hours after its unveiling, however, the statue was vandalized. “RIP DB” was painted on the wall behind the statue and the words “Feed the homeless first” were spray-painted in large letters on the ground in front of it.
Hogarth said about the news: “It’s with a heavy heart and despair I hear that within 48 hours someone has defaced Andrew Sinclair’s breathtaking David Bowie double statue,” he said. “Such a shame. Hopefully, it can be cleaned up … [And] hopefully, this fabulous work of art will give people a reason to come to Aylesbury for many years to come. It’s worth the trip.”
The statue was largely funded through a £1000,000 crowdfunding campaign lead by David Stopps. The music promoter told the BBC: “It is a public piece of art and we will keep looking after it on a daily basis,” he said. “There is a webcam on it 24/7, so whoever did it, we have got them on webcam.”
The graffiti appeared overnight and the clean up began the following morning. Residents are saddened by the incident and feel there is an irony in the fact taxpayer’s money has been used to clean up the graffiti rather than help homelessness.
