230-Year-Old Historic Statue Defaced With Blue Crayons In UK

A 230-year-old historic statue of the water nymph Sabrina has been vandalized, British conservation charity the National Trust said. The artwork depicting a reclining Sabrina, a water nymph from Welsh fairytales, was found on April 9 entirely covered in doodles. 

The statue was defaced after an Easter event at historic Croome Court, where children visiting the mansion and its gardens were given a pack of crayons, according to the BBC.

Bright blue crayon markings were seen scrawled across the face, arms, and torso of the statue at Croome, Worcester. The unidentified vandals also drew on a nearby plaque commemorating Lancelot Capability Brown, an 18th-century British landscape architect.

John Bacon sculpted the statue of Sabrina around 1802, according to the National Trust. The sculpture is carved from Coade stone and sits in a grotto that was originally decorated with exotic shells, coral, and gems.

"We are dismayed that this has happened. Disappointing as they are, incidents like this are very rare considering the millions of visitors who enjoy and respect the places in our care,"  a National Trust spokesperson said in a statement. 

The National Trust, removed the markings four days later on Thursday, April 13. The spokesperson added that the marks had been removed from the Sabrina statue using mild detergent and that the organization was cleaning the Brown memorial.

''The incident has required the time and consultation of conservators as well as of the garden and outdoor manager who cleaned the statue and memorial. Fortunately, the property was able to remove the crayon from the statue without the help of external cleaners or expensive specialist materials,'' the spokesperson said.

The Trust has not identified who is responsible for the defacements.