Two historic bronze busts have been stolen from a park in Adelaide\u2019s CBD, with the vandalism linked to a statewide rise in metal theft. <\/p>\n
A bust of suffragist Mary Lee was snatched off from its plinth on North Tce near the Government House sometime between June 26 and July 2.<\/p>\n
Police said another bust of sculptor, painter and teacher John Stuart Dowie was also stolen from its plinth on North Tce outside the State Library. <\/p>\n
Adelaide City Council Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith said aside from vandalism, thieves were damaging artwork and \u201cstealing the metal to sell\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the challenges across every local council area is that they\u2019re out … often in the dead of night, pinching wires around our lighting on sports fields,\u201d Ms Lomax-Smith told ABC Radio on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re taking plaques on heritage buildings. They\u2019re taking whole statues.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said the thievery was a \u201cvisible sign of metal theft\u201d occurring across Adelaide. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really an enraging situation because \u2026 everyone thinks a bit of vandalism is not going to harm anybody very much, but it makes the city look less attractive. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt costs money and it\u2019s not a victimless crime. Someone has to pay and it\u2019s ratepayers, and it\u2019s not just happening in Adelaide.\u201d <\/p>\n
Ms Lomax-Smith said it would be challenging and costly to replace the busts. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an act of vandalism that costs us time, money and energy. But also it\u2019s not just artistic activity that\u2019s damaged,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really shocked that people are managing to strip the wires out of the overhead lights in the parklands.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Mary Lee bust was created by Patricia Moseley \u2013 who recently died \u2013 and revealed in 1994, while the John Dowie bust was unveiled in 2006 and created by John Woffinden.<\/p>\n
Last year, the Attorney-General Kyam Maher introduced a new legislation last year, to put stronger controls on scrap metal dealers. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an issue for the whole of local government,\u201d Ms Lomax-Smith said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want this to be a hobby for people who see it as an easy way to make a little money. It\u2019s not easy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Police are now investigating and reviewing CCTV and Ms Lomax-Smith hoped someone would be \u201ccaught and prosecuted\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is possible that people avoid cameras or they have hoodies or they keep their backs to the camera. There are lots of tricks and it\u2019s costing ratepayers money across the state,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Police are urging anyone with information on the thefts or whereabouts of the stolen public artworks to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two historic bronze busts have been stolen from a park in Adelaide\u2019s CBD, with the vandalism linked to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81442,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[43720,19263,44635,128516,128520,36519,128521,73194,128538,128536,128514,56640,128519,115583,19662,395,128550,128529,43764,128518,128523,42985,128526,128549,95273,21,28761,201,128506,56441,128548,35164,128525,128504,128515,128534,128513,128545,128544,38447,1774,38992,87064,13409,8937,128532,102425,36518,102360,128507,128547,128511,7350,128517,1047,30466,128535,128510,128546,128509,128528,128541,128531,128543,128512,52801,41528,36676,81068,128533,128524,128505,87093,128542,86664,37964,128527,128539,128537,43781,104354,53406,15931,7444,36894,28294,128508,128530,10461,128540,128522],"class_list":["post-81441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-adelaide","tag-s-cbd","tag-19263","tag-44635","tag-2last-year","tag-a-visible-sign","tag-a-bit","tag-a-bust","tag-a-hobby","tag-a-huge-spike","tag-a-little-money","tag-a-new-legislation","tag-a-park","tag-a-statewide-rise","tag-a-victimless-crime","tag-abc-radio","tag-adelaide","tag-adelaide-cbd-park","tag-adelaide-city-council-lord-mayor-jane-lomax-smith","tag-an-act","tag-an-easy-way","tag-an-enraging-situation","tag-an-issue","tag-another-bust","tag-appalling-cbd-theft","tag-artwork","tag-austrlia","tag-cameras","tag-cctv","tag-every-local-council-area","tag-havoc","tag-heartless-thieves","tag-heritage-buildings","tag-historic-bronze-busts","tag-hoodies","tag-its-plinth","tag-john-woffinden-messenger-subscription-box-version","tag-july-2-police","tag-june-26-and","tag-just-artistic-activity","tag-last-year","tag-local-government","tag-lots","tag-metal","tag-metal-theft","tag-money","tag-money-and-energy","tag-ms-lomax-smith","tag-night","tag-north-tce","tag-our-lighting","tag-painter-and-teacher-john-stuart-dowie","tag-patricia-moseley","tag-people","tag-plaques","tag-police","tag-ratepayers","tag-ratepayers-money","tag-scrap-metal-dealers","tag-sculptor","tag-sports-fields","tag-statewide-metal-theft-fears","tag-stronger-controls","tag-suffragist-mary-lee","tag-the-attorney-general-kyam-maher","tag-the-busts","tag-the-camera","tag-the-challenges","tag-the-city","tag-the-dead","tag-the-government-house","tag-the-john-dowie-bust","tag-the-mary-lee-bust","tag-the-metal","tag-the-overhead-lights","tag-the-parklands","tag-the-state","tag-the-state-library","tag-the-thievery","tag-the-vandalism","tag-the-whole","tag-the-wires","tag-their-backs","tag-thieves","tag-thursday","tag-time","tag-tricks","tag-two-historic-bronze-busts","tag-two-irreplaceable-pieces","tag-vandalism","tag-whole-statues","tag-wires"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}