Vandals tore off the head of the Sprout statue which was located at Giant Park near the Little Red Barn.

One of the many Sprout statues around Blue Earth was severely damaged during an act of vandalism on Thursday night, July 27, or early morning on Friday, July 28.

It was the Sprout located at Giant Park, near the Little Red Barn at the Giant Welcome Center.

Vandals knocked the head off the Sprout and it was found lying next to the statue.

Members of the Blue Earth Chamber of Commerce Business Improvement Committee (BIC) drove around the town and checked out all the other Sprouts to make sure none of them had any visible damage, and none did.

The Blue Earth Police Department was contacted and is doing an investigation into the vandalism. Anyone with access to surveillance video in the area, or who has information pertaining to the incident, is asked to contact the Blue Earth Police.

“The BIC Committee and the artists have worked very hard on this project,” says Becki Steier, a member of the committee. “And it’s very sad to see them destroyed.”

Lissia Laehn, president of the BIC Committee, agrees.

“It is sad, depressing and heartbreaking,” Laehn says. “The committee has spent hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to complete this community attraction.”

Laehn adds that she has filed an insurance claim on behalf of the chamber, as the BIC president.

There will eventually be 24 Sprouts located in and around Blue Earth, Laehn says. Four are brand new and are still getting painted. Three are in the ‘hospital’ getting fixed or having paint touchups. They will go back to the Cedar Inn, BEA High School and the Foundation (Butterfly-Pollinator) Park.

Then there is the one that was destroyed last week at the Giant Park.

“These are expensive items,” Laehn says. “They now cost over $3,000 each, and then there is the cost of the paint, the artist, the concrete base and the signage for each one. It can be $4,500 – or more – per Sprout.”

Some of that expense is due to the higher cost of Fiberglas.

The Sprouts are hollow, Laehn explains, and with the big head and small neck, they are delicate.

“We have that warning on the signs at the base to not climb on them or sit on them,” Laehn says. “Most of the time people just stand by them.”

After the ones which are needed to be repaired and the ones that still need to be painted are installed, there are no plans to add any more Sprouts to the Blue Earth landscape at this time.

“They have been extremely popular for residents and visitors alike,” Laehn says. “We just want to keep them safe anyway we can.”