Police seek tips after sculpture in Tecumseh Art Trail defaced
TECUMSEH — Police are looking for the person responsible for defacing a sculpture that is part of Tecumseh's annual Art Trail exhibit.
Security video captured the incident at 2:48 p.m. Saturday, April 20, showing one person writing or drawing on the "Silverback" sculpture at the entrance to the alley between Muk's Sports Pub on South Evans Street and the Bidwell Building to the north. Vehicles are seen passing by on Evans Street as one person marks up the sculpture as two others watch.
The sculpture, by David Smiczek, depicts a silverback gorilla. It is made out of large, relatively flat pieces of metal that are painted matte black and fitted together to form the shape of a gorilla.
About 15 seconds into the 51-second video clip shared by the Tecumseh Police Department, someone out of view can be heard saying, "Nice job," as the other person continues writing or drawing. Then a second person appears and someone says, "Oh, my god. How funny."
At the 39-second mark, the person who was marking up the sculpture walks over to the side of the Bidwell Building and puts down what Tecumseh Police Chief Brett Coker said was a piece of chalk. They then appear to think of something to add, pick up the chalk again and go back and write something else as someone says, "Oh, yeah."
"We believe some type of business or group logo was what was written," Coker said in an email.
Toward the end of the video, a third person who is mostly out of view behind the Bidwell Building holds up a cellphone as if to take a photo of the sculpture and someone says something that is difficult to make out.
Attempts to wash the chalk off completely have been unsuccessful, and the sculpture's owner wanted to evaluate it before anything else was done, Coker said Thursday.
At least two of the people in the video appear to be women. The person doing the writing or drawing is wearing fur-lined, tan-colored boots; dark-colored yoga pants; a dark blue, insulated vest over a gray, long-sleeve shirt; sunglasses; and a dark blue stocking cap with a pom-pon.
The second person who is visible has longer, blond or light brown hair and is wearing sneakers, dark yoga pants, a blue and black winter jacket, and a blue stocking cap with a white logo on the front.
The third person who is mostly out of view appears to be carrying a purse and is wearing a gray, winter coat.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Sgt. Greg Walsh at 517-423-7494 ext. 221 or gwalsh@tecumsehmi.gov.
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The sculpture is part of the Tecumseh's annual Art Trail public art exhibition, which places several sculptures around town. This year's exhibit pieces were recently installed by the Blissfield-based Midwest Sculpture Initiative, which coordinates the artwork. The city receives grants to pay for the exhibition.
The "Silverback" sculpture is available to purchase for $8,000.
There are some chalkboards available for public use in downtown Tecumseh, on the side of the Masonic Temple Building just about a block away from where the "Silverback" sculpture is placed. On Thursday, signs were placed on the placard describing the sculpture and on its base saying it is not a chalkboard and telling people not to write on it.
Two years ago, a $12,000 sculpture in Adrian's public art exhibit was broken into several pieces. Adrian police said alcohol appeared to be a factor in that nighttime incident.
— Contact reporter David Panian at dpanian@lenconnect.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @lenaweepanian.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Police seek tips after sculpture in Tecumseh Art Trail defaced
