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Bright blue crayon marks were found on a more than two-century-old statue at a conservation site in England after an activity pack with crayons was given to children on the property, officials said.
The statue and memorial were demolished this month in Croome, a 700-acre property that is home to a mansion and two castles as well as violets, tulips and bluebells.
The National Trust, a conservation society that oversees the sprawling grounds near High Green, England, about 135 miles northwest of London, said it did not know how the marks came or if they came from crayons handed over to the site.
“Like many other heritage organizations, we regularly organize events for families and we often bring out pencils or crayons,” the organization said in a statement.
On April 8, Easter weekend, bright blue marks were written on the face, arms and body of the statue of Sabrina, a depiction of the water nymph by the sculptor John Bacon from the 1780s or in 1802 (the exact date is disputed).
The statue is in a grotto on the property near the lake, the end point for the River Croome, which flows through the grounds.
The stone statue is about six feet tall, according to the National Trust. The nymph reclines on her side, resting on the urn, which in ancient times was used to deliver water to the lake shore below.
A memorial to landscape artist Lancelot Brown, known as Capability Brown, was also defaced with a long, untidy blue zigzag crayon mark, the BBC reported.
The National Trust said on Sunday that the signs had been removed from the Sabrina statue and that the organization was cleaning up the Brown memorial.
The National Trust has not yet identified who is responsible for the defacements.
“Sadly, incidents like this are rare considering the millions of visitors who enjoy and appreciate the places in our care,” said the National Trust in a statement.
Brown was hired in 1751 to redesign the main house and gardens of the Croome estate, then owned by the 6th Earl of Coventry, according to the National Trust.
During World War II, the property was used as a Royal Air Force station and housed more than 2,000 personnel and scientists, the National Trust said.
From 1979 to 1984, the house was the UK headquarters for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, or Hare Krishnas. The owners later tried to turn the property into a golf course, apartments and a hotel before the National Trust acquired it in 1996.
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