BOSTON, Mass. — Police are still looking for a masked man who allegedly vandalized a well-known piece of art in the heart of the city.
Boston Police responded to Downtown Crossing Friday morning around 10:30. They were told a masked man ripped the 150-pound satellite from the car, across Washington Street, and fled towards Winter Street.
The Alouette represents the 1962 Canadian satellite that has seemingly fallen onto a Nissan Altima in Downtown Crossing.
“That’s the first time I’ve seen it without it,” said one nearby pedestrian. Another added, “I thought they would have the satellite on it!”
A sign next to the exhibit says that the city is doing maintenance on the piece.
Brandon Vickerd, the Canadian-based artist behind the Alouette, learned about the incident Friday night.
“It was a bit of a shock,” Vickerd told Boston 25 Saturday. “I like to think that someone was taking it home because they liked it so much.”
The piece is a part of Winteractive, a program overseen by the Downtown Boston Alliance to bring new life to the city center.
“When you put artworks out there, you kind of don’t have control of how the public interacts with it,” said Michael Nichols, the executive director of the Downtown Boston Alliance. “It’s intentionally placed in a high traffic high profile place downtown, so we weren’t shocked.”
Vikerd added, “They’ve interfered with other people’s experience of it. This piece really is about bringing something to the community, generating intrigue, generating conversation.”
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Boston Police.
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