Despite being a women’s college, Wellesley’s campus is home to one man: a lifelike, underpants-clad sculpture of a man sleepwalking, that is. The fiberglass figure, created by sculptor Tony Matelli and aptly titled Sleepwalker, is a startling intervention in an otherwise picturesque campus, and stirred up controversy when it was installed in February. Now, according to the Huffington Post, it has been vandalized. Someone splashed yellow paint on its face, left arm, left leg, and foot.
Authorities believe the vandalism took place in the early morning hours of May 21, and this was not the only piece of campus property affected. Wellesley President H. Kim Bottomly said in a statement that the acts are “criminal in nature and carry potentially serious consequences.”
So, is this a good-natured graduation prank or a statement against a piece that several students protested for its “threatening” nature? Only time—and possibly a police investigation—will tell.