One of St. Albert's prized but controversial aboriginal sculptures was decapitated by an act of vandalism over the weekend and is beyond repair, city officials say.
The Stewart Steinhauer statue entitled StarWoman was discovered tipped over on Saturday at its location behind St. Albert Place. The uppermost section of the work, which depicted a woman's head and a star in the sky, were missing from the granite work that lay broken next to a railing.
"I'm discouraged. I'm disappointed. I'm appalled. I was extremely saddened all weekend by it," said Mayor Nolan Crouse.
So far an investigation has turned up no leads. A review of security footage revealed nothing as the cameras at St. Albert Place don't point outside, Crouse said. That's something the city may have to reconsider, he said.
The statue was valued at $65,000. It depicts StarWoman, who according to aboriginal legend gave birth to the indigenous peoples of North America.
The statue is one of five works of acclaimed aboriginal artist Steinhauer that the city owns. All are located along the plaza by Red Willow Trail behind city hall.
A public works employee found the broken pieces early Saturday morning along a trail by the river but the sculpture is damaged beyond repair, said city manager Bill Holtby.
The sculptures are insured under a policy with a $25,000 deductible so the incident stands to cost the city that much. Holtby is awaiting the result of the insurance claim before seeking a replacement sculpture from Steinhauer.
"It would have to be replaced with something of equivalent value," Holtby said.
He met briefly with Steinhauer on Monday but the issue of replacement wasn't decided.
City officials are already anticipating the addition of security cameras to the outside of St. Albert Place to provide surveillance of the area, Holtby said. They also plan to secure the sculptures to the concrete pad they occupy.
Before this incident, these measures hadn't been viewed as necessary.
"We felt that the sculptures were immovable," Holtby said.
'Sick' over damage
Standing nearly seven feet tall, the StarWoman sculpture weighed about 2,700 kilograms (6,000 lbs.) and required a large picker truck to transport, Steinhauer said.
"At first I couldn't believe that it had been pushed over," he said. "Of course I felt sick."
It isn't the first time that enterprising vandals have destroyed one of his public pieces, he said.
Steinhauer doesn't have a piece in his collection that would be a suitable replacement but said he's willing to work with the city to ensure a happy outcome.
"I want everyone to be happy and I'm willing to do whatever is within my power to reach that goal," he said.
Constroversial purchase
City council consented to a special purchase of the sculptures last September. In total they cost $232,500, which is being paid over six years. As an individual piece, StarWoman was valued at $50,000 but Steinhauer provided all five sculptures for a 30 per cent discount.
The purchase, made outside the usual budget process, came after lobbying from citizens who'd fallen in love with the sculptures but also sparked outrage among some taxpayers.
Crouse doesn't think controversy was at the root of the vandalism.
"That was deplorable. That is just totally unacceptable in our community," he said. "I'd be shocked if it was targeted because of controversy."
The sculpture is now in possession of the public works department.
Police seek public help
The incident occurred between 5 p.m. Friday and 7 a.m. Saturday, said Cpl. Laurel Kading of the St. Albert RCMP, which has opened an investigation. There are no suspects or known witnesses.
"Now we are putting it out to the public with an appeal to let us know what happened," Kading said.
Police urge anyone with information to call the St. Albert RCMP at 780-458-7700 or the Crime Stoppers line at 1-800-222-8477.
