Mermaid sculpture and Christmas tree targeted by vandals

TWO incidents of vandalism have taken place in Henley in two weeks.

The mermaid statue, a 6ft 6in bronze sculpture, which stood on the Red Lion Lawn, was removed from its plinth last week and left leaning against the railings.

Members of Henley Town Council park’s services team have removed it and has made the area safe.

The council installed a CCTV camera at the riverside beauty spot last month following previous incidents of vandalism which it hopes will provide more information.

Councillor Gill Dodds, who chairs the council’s recreation and amenities committee, said: “I think it’s disgraceful.

“I’d love to know who it is and I’d like reparative justice. The team will be looking at the CCTV footage and I would imagine the mermaid will be put back on its plinth.

“Let’s have them cleaning up rubbish or something to pay back to society for their nonsense.”

Councillor Kellie Hinton, who is the committee’s vice-chair, said: “We thought that the statue was secure and it’s quite a heavy, large thing to move.

“We get a lot less of this kind of behaviour in Henley than you see around the rest of the country or the rest of the world so we’re incredibly fortunate still to live in a place like Henley but it is disappointing that people choose to spend their free time destroying other people’s work.

A spokeswoman for the town council said: “The parks team went down to make sure it was safe. We are waiting for CCTV to see what happened and also a plan to repair.”

It is the second time that the statue has been targeted by vandals after it was thrown in the river together with umbrellas and awnings, in November 2017.

Then in June last year, the furniture in the area was doused in white paint and graffiti drawn on the walls.

Vandals also damaged Henley’s tree in the early hours of Christmas Day and filmed themselves doing so.

The 30ft Nordmann fir, from Greenfield Farm in Christmas Common, was installed in Market Place by the town council and decorated with hundreds of baubles and lights. It was the centrepiece of last year’s Christmas Festival.

A passer-by found the tree damaged at 6am, with branches torn off, baubles smashed and fencing broken.

In a video posted to the social media platform TikTok, a man can be seen climbing the tree, reaching about halfway before falling off, causing branches to break and lights to be pulled off the tree.

The video was accompanied by music, Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree by Brenda lee. The caption of the post read: “Bet you can’t climb that tree. Merry Christmas you filthy animals.”

Mayor Rory Hunt condemned the vandalism.

He said: “I am deeply disappointed to hear about the vandalism to our town’s Christmas tree. This tree is a source of joy for so many residents and visitors.

“It represents the hard work and dedication of our community, from those who helped set it up to those who admire it.”

Cllr Hinton said: “It is really disappointing. A lot of time and effort goes into making sure the town can be as beautiful and magical as it can be at Christmas time.

“We want that to be for everyone’s enjoyment people that live here, people who visit, we want as many people as possible to visit because we want them to use our shops and restaurants. We also want to have Christmas cheer in the town. There are a lot of things that are really rubbish about the world right now, whether that is ever decreasing water quality, wars in the world, from the trivial right to the completely depressing, there is a lot of bad in the world.

“Christmas is a time for the community to come together, have a good time, be with their neighbours, family, friends and loved ones.

“We want to bring cheer to everybody and it is sad that someone would go out and ruin it. I do appreciate that perhaps at Christmas time people have a few more drinks than normal and perhaps behave in ways that they shouldn’t.”

A council spokeswoman said: “We are deeply disappointed that this has occurred, particularly during the festive season when the lights bring joy to so many.

“Thames Valley Police have been notified, and we are reviewing CCTV footage to assist with identifying those responsible.

“We appreciate your understanding and patience as we address the situation. Our team is working hard to restore the lights as soon as possible. If anyone has any information, we encourage you to contact Thames Valley Police directly.”