TRURO - The tree sculpture of Vera Clyke has been restored after vandals knocked the head off early Saturday morning.
Town employees replaced the head early yesterday morning at the statue's location at the corner of Robie and Ford streets.
"For roughly 24 hours it was hard to drive up and down that street," said Ford Street resident Raymond Tynes, "... coming around that corner and seeing a statue of one of our prominent ladies of the town headless."
Clyke was considered a "matriarch" in Truro's black community and for 71 years was the organist at Zion Baptist Church. She passed away in 1998 and the sculpture was officially unveiled in July 2006 after about $5,000 was raised in the community.
It was one of at least three sculptures that were damaged during the weekend while the popular stagecoach at Victoria Square was also the target of vandalism.
The wooden bells attached to the bottom of the Portia White statue, located in front of the Zion Baptist Church on Prince Street, were removed while there was damage done to the statue on Queen Street that represents the 4,000 graduates since the Institute for Early Childhood Education began in 1976.
White and Clyke are both revered in Truro, particularly in the black community.
"They're angry and upset and disappointed," Tynes said Sunday.
"But they realize, I think, there's no evidence of direct attack on the African Nova Scotian community. They believe this was part of a senseless destruction/vandalism, however, those two statues are a significant part of our history."
The hands from the Clyke statue went missing last year, but a new set is expected to be in place in the coming weeks.
Truro tree committee chairman Don Cameron initiated the tree sculpture project with the support of town council in 1999 as a way of dealing with the number of trees the town was losing to the Dutch elm disease.
"It's hard to understand what goes on in someone's head that would lead them to do this," Cameron said from the Clyke site Sunday morning. "The fact that (the head) was just knocked off and not damaged, we're very lucky that way."
There have been more than 40 sculptures done representing the history and culture of the community during the past decade.
"We've been very fortunate over the years to have very little vandalism," Cameron said. "Hopefully this will be a very isolated incident because the community takes great pride in these (sculptures)."
Some of the sculptures are succumbing to the elements and starting to rot. Tynes said the statues bring a sense of pride to the community and if they deteriorate on their own is different than having a helping hand.
"If they go prematurely because of some vandalism or senseless act, you can't help but get angry about it," he said.
Truro police are investigating the vandalism and are hoping the public can assist in finding those responsible. Anyone with information is asked to contact Truro police at 895-5351 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
jmalloy@trurodaily.com
