Eddie the Eagle will brighten Colwood’s Herm Williams Park no more.
“I got a message through Facebook that one of the eagles was stolen and damaged,” said Paul Lewis. “The community is kind of upset about it.”
Lewis is a driftwood sculptor whose creations are well-known along the Esquimalt Lagoon and throughout Greater Victoria. He recently sold a number of sculptures to the City of Colwood for display in Herm Williams Park.
But on Saturday, one of the sculptures was stolen.
A sculpture in the shape of an eagle that had been nicknamed “Eddie the Eagle” by locals was cut off from its mount at the legs.
Driftwood sculptor Paul Lewis installs a replacement statue after one of his creations was stolen from Herm Williams Park.
Lewis says that vandalism and theft of these sculptures isn’t uncommon.
“It happens…there’s a lot of idiots out there,” Lewis said. He added that the thief or thieves would have a hard time displaying or selling the stolen sculpture. “It’s not worth taking them, it’s not worth giving them away or trying to sell them or even just destroy them. Why? So many people love them.”
Residents in Colwood agreed. “That’s awful, like what’s the point of doing that?” said one resident. “They’re here for everyone to enjoy.”
“I like seeing creative things like this out in the community,” said another. “It’s unfortunate.”
But despite the setback, Lewis was back at the park today, installing a replacement. “I made a little kestrel instead,” Lewis said. “Instead of Eddie the Eagle, we got Kelsey the Kestrel,” he added with a laugh.
Jasmine Bala
