Shediac's giant lobster was vandalized this week, but Roger Caissie, mayor of the southeastern New Brunswick town, says the statue will be cleaned up in time for the lobster festival that begins on Canada Day.
Town staff discovered the damage Tuesday morning, with graffiti splayed across the lobster's left claw and along the statue's base.
The giant lobster on Shediac's main street is a popular stop for tourists.
"It's what represents Shediac," Caissie said. "We are the lobster capital of the world."
Removing the spray-painted graffiti on the lobster isn't as simple as removing graffiti from a park bench or a wall, which can easily be painted over by town workers, he said.
Originally unveiled in 1990, the giant statue was created by New Brunswick sculptor Winston Bronnum using concrete, steel and rebar.
Each year Shediac brings in a professional artist to maintain the statue's colours and keep the crustacean looking its best.
"It is exposed to the elements — salt, sea air, seawater," Caissie said.
Jared Betts, who took over the maintenance of the lobster in 2020, had just finished the annual touchups last week.
Even though he had already moved on to his next project — an upcoming art exhibition in Chicago with artist Sheri Rush — he didn't hesitate when the Town of Shediac called to ask for his help. He will return to Shediac to paint over the vandalized sections on Friday.
Caissie couldn't say how much it would cost to have those sections repainted, since it will depend how long it takes, but he said the town will pay for whatever time and supplies the artist requires.
Betts doesn't believe the graffiti has anything to do with him, the lobster, or Shediac.
"It's obviously just someone dealing with something internally," he said. "It's unfortunate, but I'll fix it, and it'll just take a day."
Betts expects a graffiti-removal product will remove all of the paint in the vandalized sections, but he is confident he can repaint it to look as good as new.
"It's elaborate, but I've been painting for 20 years so it just takes time," he said. "But it's no different than the kind of maintenance I generally do anyway."
Betts expects the claw will involve matching and blending six to 10 different colours.
As to how to deter future vandals, Caissie said there have been discussions about setting up cameras before but there are currently none in the area.
He expects further discussion with town council, and said town staff has already started to look into what would be required to set them up.
"I mean the lobster is under the lights 24-7, sunshine by day and in bright lights by night," he said. "So it's not as if you you can get to the lobster without being noticed by anybody."
Shediac RCMP Sgt. Mario Maillet said police plan to increase patrols in the area at night, and they are asking the public to report any sightings of vandalism and grafitti to local police.
"Even if it's just a phone call to tell us where it's located, when it happened and what's written on the walls," said Maillet. "Often people that do graffiti, they'll do the same kind of logos or lettering, so if they can all be linked it helps our investigations to try to find whoever's doing it."
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2023-06-29 20:38:08Z
CBMiYGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNiYy5jYS9uZXdzL2NhbmFkYS9uZXctYnJ1bnN3aWNrL3NoZWRpYWMtZ2lhbnQtbG9ic3Rlci1ncmFmZml0aS12YW5kYWxpemVkLTEuNjg5MjUzOdIBIGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNiYy5jYS9hbXAvMS42ODkyNTM5
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