Ga. officials looking for vandal who put ‘googly eyes’ on Revolutionary War statue – U.S. – Stripes

“Technically, a crime…” 
-DB

“It may look funny but harming our historic monuments and public property is no laughing matter, in fact, it’s a crime,” the city posted on Facebook on Thursday. Facebook comments took a turn for the humorous.

Officials in Savannah, Ga. are looking for vandals who put googly eyes on a statue of a Revolutionary War general.

The officials asked “Who did this?” alongside two photos on Facebook of a statue of Nathanael Greene, a general for the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War, with googly eyes.

“It may look funny but harming our historic monuments and public property is no laughing matter, in fact, it’s a crime,” the city posted on Facebook on Thursday. They added that anyone with information should contact the police.

Some of the over 7,000 comments on the post, which has been shared nearly 27,000 times, were light-hearted and humorous.

User Kendra Parris posted: “It is a well-known fact of history that Nathaniel Greene’s favorite pastime was challenging people to staring contests. Is our children (sic) even learning this in public school anymore??!”

User Thomas Laws riffed on the famous “Empire Strikes Back” ending, where Han Solo is entombed in carbonite to be delivered to Jabba the Hutt: “They’re so offended by the googly eyes. Why isn’t someone standing up for the person that’s been frozen in carbonite?”

User Nikki Henderson riffed on the “Law & Order” TV show intro: “In the criminal justice system, statue based offenses are considered especially heinous. In Savannah, Ga, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Statue Unit. These are their stories.”

And user Jo Tall Hobbit Rainney may have found something good in all the attention the viral post has brought to the statues: “99% of the public didn’t know these statues existed until now. Thanks for the history lesson, googly-eyed bandit”

Savannah police public information coordinator told BuzzFeed News that the googly eyes didn’t do any damage, but the police are looking into the crime of trespassing, as the vandal or vandals would have had to climb over a fence to get to the statue.

“It is a trespassing,” she said. “It is technically a crime, so we are going to be looking at the [surveillance] cameras and seeing what comes of it.”

Source: Ga. officials looking for vandal who put ‘googly eyes’ on Revolutionary War statue – U.S. – Stripes