GREENFIELD — Marilyn White and Joanne Parsons planned to stroll down Main Street Saturday afternoon and admire the seven ice sculptures created the day before as part of the annual Winter Carnival. What they found instead made their hearts sink.
Of the seven sculptures, four had been smashed overnight and lay in smithereens at the curb.
“It’s just too bad,” White said. “Today is a gorgeous day to get out and walk down Main Street and just enjoy the sculptures.”
“It’s so discouraging,” Parsons agreed.
When contacted Saturday evening, Greenfield Police Chief Robert Haigh said some of the sculptures were vandalized last year as well.
“It’s a shame,” he said. “It’s just unfortunate how people try to do something nice for this community, and then you have people with this lack of respect for the work that’s been put in … If we can determine who it is, they will certainly face the appropriate charges.”
John Moussiaux, floor manager at Green Fields Market, said he reviewed the store’s surveillance footage Saturday morning and saw the culprits knock down the sculpture in front of Green Fields Market at 2:28 a.m.
Moussiaux said the footage shows six individuals, who he believes to be teenagers. One, he said, had a bright blue jacket and another had a white and brown striped coat. Moussiaux plans to give the footage over to police.
Still, the vandalism didn’t stop local residents from stopping to admire and photograph the three remaining sculptures on the Town Common, in front of Ryan & Casey Liquors and across the street by Swift Cleaners. George Ghol, owner of Garden Cinemas, along with his employees 17-year-old Zachary Lastowski and 20-year-old Caleb Eagles, even took to repairing a sculpture of a bear and her cubs in front of his business.
“Generally, they last for a week or so that they’re on display,” Ghol said. “We’ve never had (this vandalism) happen in front of the Garden. It’s a sad commentary on the state of society.”
The sculpture had broken into three pieces, which Ghol, Lastowski and Eagles carefully slid back into place. They then threw some water on the sculpture, hoping to refreeze it back together.
“There’s still one big chunk missing, but we did what we could,” Ghol said, referring to the mother bear’s snout. “People will be able to enjoy it tonight when they come to the theater.”