Minneapolis' iconic "Spoonbridge and Cherry" sculpture survived a weekend graffiti attack and is sparkling again.
The word "Kony," referring to a Ugandan guerrilla/war criminal, was spray-painted on the popular sculpture, a centerpiece of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, early Saturday.
By midday Monday the graffiti was removed but the incident is still being investigated.
Walker Art Center, which trains 24-hour surveillance cameras on the Sculpture Garden, observed people entering the garden about 1:30 a.m. Saturday. Security staff members notified Minneapolis police, who arrived within 10 minutes.
"The police met a couple of people leaving" the garden, said Walker spokesperson Ryan French. However, the Walker didn't realize that the sculpture had been vandalized until dawn on Saturday.
Last weekend a grass-roots "Kony 2012 Cover the Night" campaign encouraged an international display of posters, stickers and murals calling attention to Joseph Kony, leader of a Ugandan guerrilla group accused of abducting children and forcing them to become sex slaves and child soldiers. He has been indicted for war crimes but remains at large. A film about his activities, "Invisible Children," became a YouTube sensation this spring.
The vandalism shocked Kony protester Gawolo Kpissay, a Liberian-born Minneapolis artist who helped distribute anti-Kony fliers along Lake Street and in Uptown Friday night.
"I think that it's super-disrespectful to deface someone's art," said Kpissay, who has participated in Walker programs. When he learned of the vandalism, he went to the Walker to apologize Sunday even though his group had nothing to do with it, he said.
