Editor’s Note: Campus Findings is a weekly column about things on campus that trigger the curiosity of the Iowa State community. Carrie Sutton, junior in journalism and mass communication, will investigate the inquires each week and post her findings. Submit inquires to [email protected].

The Christian Petersen statues in front of the Oak-Elm Residence Halls have been sporting a new look this fall — tarps.

The statues were covered with the tarps last month by Facilities Planning and Management after they were vandalized with permanent ink, said Mary Atherly, collections manager for University Museums.

“Unfortunately, the statue that’s been here for 50 years has been vandalized for the second time in two years,” Atherly said.

Atherly said the vandals used black permanent marker. The ink was absorbed by the limestone in the statues, which results in a “very time-consuming cleaning process,” she said.

Atherly said the statues will remain covered with the tarps until next spring when they will be cleaned. She said the tarps were placed over the statues to deter anyone from vandalizing them further.

“We were afraid if people see the ink, they will continue vandalizing,” she said.

Atherly said these are the only statues on campus that have been vandalized and covered by tarps to protect them against vandalism this year. She said she hopes it will be the last time they have to resort to such measures.

Last year, “Happy Birthday” was written with pastel chalk all over the statues and the nearby buildings, Atherly said. She said the vandals were identified last year because they wrote the birthday girl’s name with the message. This year, officials do not know who vandalized the statues.

“Students here are concerned,” she said. “There’s always somebody who has to ruin it.”

Atherly said the only other similar incidence of vandalism she knows of occurred in the early 1970s when “Ban the semester” was spelled out in acid on the sculpture in front of Curtiss Hall. The vandals were protesting the university’s change from the quarter to the semester system.

Atherly said money to fix vandalism such as the Oak-Elm incident comes from building funds, which are raised by tuition increases.

“Students should be aware; they’re paying for it,” Atherly said.