Animal silhouettes beheaded for second time

Residents are upset after vandals have once again decapitated a set of animal sculptures in Radcliffe, Bury, Greater Manchester. For the second time in three years, life-sized silhouettes of a deer and two fawns have been damaged.



In 2013, similar metal figures of a fawn, deer, rabbit and squirrel also had their heads cut off, and local families have been left outraged after seeing the vandalism repeated. Bury Council have said they will not installing any new animals this year and will have to consider whether they are ever replaced.



Neil Butterworth, who lives nearby, said: “All three of them have had their heads broken off.” He added that, to break off the heads, the vandals would have had to wrench the metal back and forth repeatedly until it sheared off. “To see them like this is very sad. We were so glad when they we re-installed after the last time and I hope they can be replaced again.”



A council spokesman said: “Yet again, a tiny minority of people have spoiled it for the vast majority, who enjoyed seeing these metal animals 'in the wild' at this green space. For safety reasons we are having to remove the figures, and they will not be replaced this year. We will have to consider whether to install them again, as this is not the first time these figures have been vandalised. If anyone knows who carried out this criminal damage, please report it to the council and the police.”