Wellington's water whirler sculpture was broken on Saturday night. Photo / WCC
Wellington's water whirler sculpture was broken on Saturday night. Photo / WCC
CCTV footage shows up to four people were involved in breaking Wellington’s water whirler sculpture, with one of them finding time for a quick midnight skinny dip too.
The Len Lye sculpture, a tall pole that can be activated to create a dazzling water display on the waterfront, has been snapped in half and is cordoned off with red tape.
Wellington City Council spokeswoman Victoria Barton-Chapple said the council’s security team has determined via CCTV footage that it was an act of vandalism.
Four individuals were involved at roughly midnight on Saturday, Barton-Chapple said.
“Footage shows the wand broke after significant pushing and pulling of it by one of the individuals involved – one of them also found time for a quick skinny dip.”
The individuals were seen leaving the scene heading north past TSB Arena, Barton-Chapple said.
The CCTV footage is being saved and police will be informed, she said.
A bystander filmed Hunter MacDonald scaling the water whirler as it bent under his weight and snapped in 2018. Photo / File
“We will also work with the Wellington Sculpture Trust and our insurance assessors to start a discussion regarding the process of restoring the public art asset.”
The $300,000 sculpture on Wellington’s waterfront was made famous when a self-styled “daredevil” climbed on it and broke it in 2018.
A bystander filmed Hunter Macdonald scaling the pole as it bent under his weight, until it snapped off at the base, hitting him on the head as he plunged into the water.
He suffered a brain injury that came “dangerously close to being fatal”, according to lawyer Carrie Parkin.
Macdonald pleaded guilty to wilful damage and was sentenced to community work and fined $1000 in reparation for breaking the sculpture.
When the newly-fixed water whirler was put back in place, then-mayor Justin Lester warned would-be climbers “don’t be a dick”.
In 2020 the sculpture was again removed from the waterfront when hairline fractures were discovered in the pole. It was sent off for further examination.
“I’m told the machinery that gives the pole its wobble may be doing too good a job at giving it a wobble so it might be putting the pole under stress,” council spokesman Richard MacLean said at the time.
