Hull art trail puffin statue damaged by vandals

A puffin sculpture made for a charity art trail has been vandalised, the artist who painted it has said.

The statue - called Headscarf Revolutionary - is one of 42 placed across East Yorkshire since July for the Puffins Galore trail.

Located in Queen Victoria Square, Hull, artist Susan Woolhouse said she thought vandals were responsible for a split in the fibreglass sculpture.

"You don't want to stop doing the art, but it's so disheartening," she said.

"When I saw the state of it I was horrified. To me, I think over-zealous handling. I'm convinced of it."

Each sculpture has been sponsored by a local business and painted by an artist or organisation.

Ms Woolhouse's puffin has been named after a group of women who campaigned for trawler safety measures in the 1960s and became known as the Headscarf Revolutionaries.

All 42 statues will eventually be auctioned to raise money for charity.

This damage follows three other puffin sculptures which had been vandalised in Hull.

Signs have been placed near the sculptures asking people not to climb on them, but Ms Woolhouse believes some people continue to swing off them.

"This is public art, this is not play apparatus. It is not a slide.

"I have also seen people of various ages hanging onto the beak, climbing onto the back of it. I've witnessed two young kids kick it."

The damage is thought to have been caused on Friday, with parts of the beak also chipped and shoe marks also visible on the sculpture.

While Ms Woolhouse said she hoped it could be repaired, it is unclear if the sculpture's structure is damaged further.

"She took almost 100 hours of painting to complete. Do I consider to repair it, or do I get a blank canvas to start again?," she asked.

If it was repaired, she said she hoped it would be "kept indoors or somewhere where they can be supervised" to prevent further damage.

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