Famous Coventry statue found dumped in shed

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Boy, 15, arrested after red paint daubed over much-loved city centre sculpture



A teenager has been arrested after a much-loved city centre sculpture was vandalised. Residents, workers and visitors were outraged and stunned after red paint was daubed over the bronze Naiad artwork in Upper Precinct.

Officers trawled through endless footage from CCTV cameras in the area. A 15-year-old boy has now been arrested in connection with the incident, which police were alerted to on Wednesday (November 1).

"Officers from our Coventry City Centre Police team have arrested a 15-year-old boy in the city after vandalism to the bronze Naiad sculpture in Upper Precinct," a West Midlands Police spokesperson said. "Anyone who might have seen anything can contact us via Live Chat or 101 quoting crime number 20/956713/23.

"We understand how much incidents like this mean to the community and remain committed to taking action against this kind of behaviour. Damage to public sites will not be tolerated."

Vincent Hammersley, who campaigned for the sculpture to be reintroduced to the public said he was 'sickened' when he saw the damage. "This kind of vandalism and destruction of a beautiful piece of public artwork is just not acceptable," he said. "I'm embarrassed and shocked."

Coventry City Council spent a significant amount of money on a makeover of the landmark after it had been placed in storage for many years. It was reinstalled at the Friargate building in 2018 before being relocated to Upper Precinct two years ago as part of Coventry's City of Culture celebrations.

The local authority had arranged for the damage to be removed and the sculpture to be cleaned within hours of being alerted to the vandalism.

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Sixty-six-year-old city sculpture vandalised



A 66-year-old sculpture has been removed for safety after being snapped from its mounts in a city-centre pool.

The vandalism of the Naiad in Coventry's Upper Precinct was discovered by tour guide Scott Duffin [pictured] and has been reported to police.

Mr Duffin said the life-sized depiction of a water nymph had been moved from its original position and was "just sitting waiting to be carried away".

"I think its disgraceful," he said. "Our heritage is our artefacts and we should be looking after them and not destroying them."

George Wagstaffe's sculpture, made in fibreglass in 1958, was replaced in bronze in the 1980s.

It has had various homes in the city and was relocated to the Upper Precinct during City of Culture celebrations in 2021.

The city council said it was aware the Naiad had been detached from its fixings and staff are checking CCTV footage.

"In the meantime we are removing her to ensure she is safe until we can arrange to get her back into place, securely fixed," a spokesperson added.

Describing what had seen, Mr Duffin said: "It was a bit further back up in the pool but... it's been snapped from [the attachments] and it is now down the bottom.

"Quite easily now one to two people could just pick it up and walk away with it if they wanted to."

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Call for history buffs to mount vandalism patrols



A man has called for people passionate about protecting their local heritage to form a city-centre patrol after a spate of vandalism.

City guide Scott Duffin suggested Coventry history buffs could meet on weekday evenings to help him "keep a watchful eye" over the city.

His suggestion follows damage in recent week's to a police memorial plaque, the historic Naiad sculpture, and the cathedral's Baptistry Window.

"I’ve never seen this much damage being done to our historical places before," Mr Duffin said.

Writing on the Visit Historic Coventry Facebook page he helps run, Mr Duffin wrote of his anger and upset over the damage caused.

"Let's come together and try and help and do something about it," he said.

He suggested Visit Historic Coventry street wardens could meet several evenings a week in high-vis to "walk around our city centre to check all is okay and have a visible presence to show unity against what has been going on".

Mr Duffin, an avid collector of local history memorabilia who has run guided tours of the city's historic locations, told the BBC he was passionate about protecting his heritage.

"It feels like there’s a bit of a trend going on," he said. "I am always about in the city centre. I soon notice if something's not right."

In response to his suggestion, Facebook users wrote of their anger and upset over the damage, with some praising his "good idea" and others raising concerns over vigilantism.

"So awful, not to mention totally disrespectful," wrote one user.

"It is sickening that people will go around defacing historical statues, works of art and architecture and places of historical value. I hope that it can be stopped," wrote another.

Mr Duffin discovered the plaque to PC Guthrie, who was murdered in the line of duty, had been smashed on 7 April.

Three weeks later, he found the 66-year-old Naiad sculpture had been removed from its bindings in a pool on Upper Precinct and moved.

Damage to Coventry Cathedral's stained-glass Baptistery Window was discovered on Monday.

Mr Duffin plans to set up an event for anyone interested in his plan to meet up in the coming days.

West Midlands Police is investigating all three incidents.