Vandals damage Iron Mike statue, steal its rifle
By Ian Hand, Ashland Daily Tidings, Ore. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Iron Mike, also known as Pioneer Mike, stands atop the Carter Memorial Fountain in the Plaza. The statue was erected in 1910 to honor the generation of early pioneers who were passing away during that time. It was given to the city by
In addition to the missing rifle, the fountain's name plate was damaged. The vandalism is estimated to have occurred some time in the 48 hours before it was reported Thursday morning.
This is the second time Iron Mike's gun has been broken off in the past 15 years, says
A review of reports in the Daily Tidings also show two other incidents involving Iron Mike in the past 10 years. Citations were issued to seven people in 2006 for climbing Iron Mike and, in 2008, a man climbed the statue and burned an American flag to protest the Iraq War. Mike was discolored by the burning flag, and the man was arrested.
Iron Mike was also in the news in
The man suffered no injuries, but the damaged cable left the downtown business district in
"Mike isn't made out of iron, but actually pot metal, which is an alloy of lead and zinc," DeBey says. "It's pretty difficult to repair. I had a guy working here at the forge back then that taught me last time, but it's a pretty big project."
Pot metal is a slang term for cheap metal alloys that commonly use some combination of lead, zinc, copper or tin. Such alloys are fairly soft and have a low melting point. Such metals sometimes have pores that can lead to deformities over time. Pot metal has an advantage of rapid, easy casting for statues.
The historic fountain is part of a list of items contributing to the inclusion of the
The statue's defacing was one of several vandalism and thefts reported Thursday. The 500 through 800 blocks of
While he says it's not a big leap to connect the thefts to the spray-painted cars, Deputy Chief
"We're probably looking at two separate incidents," he says. "With the vandalized vehicles, it's probably a person painting one car, then another and continuing down the street. So while you've got multiple victims, it's probably the same culprit."
O'Meara says that the investigation is still in its early stages and there are no further leads at this time.
Any one with information about the vandalism should contact
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