Aylesbury’s David Bowie memorial statue vandalised

Earthly Messenger
Earthly Messenger (Image credit: Jo Kendall)

The world’s first sculpture celebrating the life and work of David Bowie has been vandalised just 48-hours after it was unveiled in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.

The statue titled Earthly Messenger was created by Andrew Sinclair and unveiled by Marillion vocalist Steve Hogarth on Sunday afternoon after David Stopps and his wife Sue raised £115,000 on Kickstarter to fund the project.

But just days after it was revealed, “feed the homeless first” has been spray-painted at the base of the sculpture and “RIP DB” on the wall behind.

Hogarth says: “It’s with a heavy heart and despair I hear that within 48 hours someone has defaced Andrew Sinclair’s breathtaking David Bowie double-statue.

“Hopefully this is just a glitch and this fabulous work of art will give people a reason to come to Aylesbury for many years to come.”

David Stopps says they’re currently cleaning the statue and adds (via the BBC): “It is a public piece of art and we will keep looking after it on a daily basis.

“There is a webcam on it 247 so whoever did it, we have got them on webcam.”

Bowie, who died in January 2016, premiered Hunky Dory at the town’s Friars Aylesbury in September 1971 and The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars in January 1972 at the same venue.

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Scott Munro
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Scott has spent 35 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott keeps Louder’s buyer’s guides up to date, writes about the best deals for music fans, keeps on top of the latest tech releases and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 10 years, Scott has written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald newspapers, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.