[CPProt.net] Vandals wreak havoc at Columbine Gallery

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Vandals wreak havoc at Columbine Gallery
$25,000 to $50,000 damage done 

July 5, 2005

By Pamela Dickman
The Daily Reporter-Herald 

The first sign that something was amiss at Columbine Gallery Wednesday
morning was water flooding the parking lot.
Then owner John Kinkade walked into the one-acre sculpture garden and got an
eyeful.

Bronze sculptures were knocked over, scratched and damaged at the business
at 2683 N. Taft Ave., across the street from North Lake Park.

Aphrodite, a marble sculpture, was overturned. Her head, broken from her
body, was pitched at other art pieces.

Lawn furniture was tossed into a pond.

Trees were damaged.

A chiminea was smashed like Humpty Dumpty.

Sprinkler heads and lights were destroyed.

Three pieces of art are missing - stolen or thrown in the pond - and other
sculptures and pedestals are now covered with feces.

All told, vandals caused an estimated $25,000 to $50,000 damage at the
business.

"I'm shellshocked," Kinkade said. "It's a nauseating experience."

A week and a half before the gallery's large show, held the same weekend as
Loveland's sculpture show, Kinkade's family is left cleaning up the mess.

And Loveland police are investigating.

Officer Bobbi Jo Brown responded to Kinkade's call and documented the
damage, but police have not arrested anyone. Nor do they know how many
people were involved.

The culprits, who also threw up on the sidewalk, may have been drunk.

Based on when the sprinkler system is set to operate, Kinkade believes the
damage happened after midnight.

And based on the amount of damage, Brown thought the vandals were there for
at least two hours, according to police and Kinkade. But no witnesses have
come forward.

One of the destroyed pieces, Aphrodite, was worth about $8,500, Kinkade
said.

"It was one of a kind," he said. "It had been sold, and somebody had been
making payments on it."

Now instead of the chosen piece, the buyer will either receive a refund or
another piece.

Kinkade plans to install security cameras and devices, and police have
promised to patrol the area more often in the coming weeks. He also hopes
the community will keep an eye out.

"It's beyond kids just horsing around," said Alyson Kinkade, whose father
owns the gallery. "This is just beyond all of it.

"It's just kind of devastating. It's just our garden, and we didn't do
anything to anybody. You just feel violated."