NORTHAMPTON — A beloved piece of art honoring those who have helped revitalize downtown Northampton was vandalized Sunday night.
Police received a report from a man just after 9:45 p.m. of a vandalism on Main Street. The man told police he saw another man push over the owl statue and then get into a vehicle, police said.
The bronze owl was broken off its perch at the legs, police said. Police took the owl, and the incident remains under investigation.
“The Queen of Main Street” statue was unveiled in September 2012 on the one-year anniversary of longtime Northampton businesswoman Eva Trager’s death. The sculptor, Gregory Stone, died in September 2016.
“That act of violence against the statue — it’s hard to even comment on it,” Suzanne Beck, executive director of the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce. “It’s a meaningless attack by an individual who I am sure had no intent other than to create damage. To do destruction.
“It’s like any incident like that. There is always repercussions that go well beyond. The meaning is always well beyond the single act,” Beck continued.
The owl is in police custody and Beck said the chamber is unsure when it can be retrieved from evidence.
Judith Fine, former owner of Gazebo on Center Street, called the vandalism “senseless” and said it was “just destruction for the purpose of destruction.”
“I’m outraged. I’m pissed,” Fine said. “Where is the joy of destroying art? What was he thinking? There aren’t words to tell you how much it pisses me off.”
The statue will be repaired and restored, but Beck said it was too soon to know how long it would take and how much it would cost.
“The real significance of the damage, it feels like such an affront to all the work those individuals did to make this community what it is,” Beck said.
Trager was the co-founder, owner and operator of the Country Comfort clothing store. She was referred to as the Queen of Main Street and Beck said Trager cast a “huge net in terms of being a really central figure in downtown’s revitalization and the spirit of collaboration in the business community.”
“Her passing represented a moment in time that triggered people’s recognition that there was this generation of people like Eva, who came in early to downtown’s revitalization, took the risk, had the vision and made it happen,” Beck said.
At the statue’s unveiling in September 2012, Stone said he took inspiration from Trager in choosing the subject of the statue.
“To me the owl is like life, spirit, kind of tenacious, feisty — and Eva was like that,” Stone said at the time.
A chamber committee raised over $20,000 from local businesses and individuals and worked with the city to plan the sculpture’s installation.
“An owl was chosen because of the symbolism of the wisdom of the owl. I think it’s not so fitting necessarily for Eva but for all of downtown,” Fine said. “It was more about the wisdom of the owl, all-seeing eye of the owl, the veneration of the owl and how it was held in high esteem.”
In addition to paying tribute to Trager’s legacy, the statue also honors those who helped contribute to the revitalization of Northampton. Nominations are accepted every year for the honor and plaques are installed biennially.
“There is a lot of significance to the memorial for the people that are named on the memorial and their families,” Beck said. “There is an attachment, the statue itself has an inordinate amount of meaning in its representation of these people.”
Emily Cutts can be reached at ecutts@gazettenet.com.