'Idiotic' vandals de-horn Fergus

A popular entry statement into Greater Bunbury has been vandalised in an act that has angered and frustrated a Dardanup shire councillor.

The statue of Fergus the Bull on Forrest Highway has welcomed people to the region since 2002, but his right horn has been torn off.

It is the second time in recent years that the statue has been vandalised after his horns were removed and then replaced in 2013.

Dardanup shire councillor James Lee said he had noticed the missing horn on the weekend and described the actions of the vandals as idiotic.

“When you defile a public display like this, the community pays for it, ” he said.

“We had it repainted recently by the same artist who built it, Russell Sheridan, so it’s really disappointing because the statue is our way of welcoming people to the region.”

Cr Lee said he believed the vandals had been swinging off the horn when it snapped.

“I would suggest it would have been done in the middle of the night and you can see another crack on his other horn, ” he said.

“Perhaps putting more illumination around the statue might help.”

Cr Lee said the council would pay for the statue to be fixed and it would be completed within a month.

“It will come out of our maintenance budget and we will have to put it as an unexpected expense, ” he said.

“I don’t think putting more cameras here would solve the problem, it’s more about education because if you put cameras here then people will go somewhere else.”