The owner of Inspire Studio in Minnedosa is dealing with a bit of a head-scratcher, as the statue outside her business has been vandalized three times, the most recent incident happening this past weekend.
Four years ago Marlies Soltys created a statue of a man sitting on a bench outside her business – who has been named Art – as a fun little attraction for people when they visit.
But since then, Art’s head has been stolen three times, the latest between Saturday night and Sunday morning.
“This guy needs a book. The new ‘Where’s Waldo?'” Soltys laughed. “It’s disheartening, but you can’t be mad about it, it’s futile.”
The first time the head disappeared, it was eventually returned — the second time it was found on the beach.
Each time, Soltys would reinforce it, in hopes that Art wouldn’t lose his head, but still, it would disappear.
With this third time, she has no idea where the head has gone.
The statue in front of Inspire Studio missing its head. Uploaded Aug. 27, 2024. (Marlies Soltys)
“He’s on an adventure somewhere. He’s seeing the world. I should put a camera in him so that we can see where he’s at.”
While she can laugh about the incident, Soltys has filed a police report because it continues to be a problem.
“The first two times I didn’t, but this time, it’s like, ‘OK, we need to take this a little bit more seriously.'”
Soltys does have a camera pointed at Art and it did pick up people in front of him, but she said she couldn’t make out anyone in the video.
The hope is the head will once again be returned, but if not, she is prepared to make a new one.
“This time it’ll be a little stronger, yet again. In the meantime, he’s a headless horseman. Maybe the people who have taken it have a little bit of integrity left and bring it back, right? I’m thinking that they needed to make some heavy-duty decisions, and two heads are better than one…hopefully, they’ll get through their decision-making and we’ll have our head back.”
