Shortly after the Underground Railroad mural in the Carper Amtrack Station was vandalized and damaged, now the Lincoln Topiary on the front lawn of City Hall was the latest victim of criminal mischief.
Sometime around 10:30 p.m. June 2, a white female, wearing a backpack, black leggings and large white-colored headphones according to footage, ripped the entire center – the flowers and the ivy – from the 'beard' of the Lincoln topiary. The damage is estimated at $200, plus the labor involved (and the ivy that was destroyed took three years to reach that growth), but more than the damage, Jock Hedblade, executive director of Visit Unforgettable Forgottonia (dba as the Macomb Area Convention and Visitors Bureau), said the damage to the mural (which is outside of the MACVB's office) and the topiary go beyond disrepect.
'It's malicious and intentional,' Hedblade said. 'As evident by the footage we saw, the person responsible for this vandalism did so with the purpose of destruction this work of art. It makes me sad and angry.'
The Macomb Police Department reviewed camera footage from the latest incident, and because of the security camera recording, Elizabeth Bustamante, 48, of 118 ½ S. Lafayette St., was arrested at her residence at 11 a.m., June 6 and charged with criminal trespass to land and criminal damage to state-supported property.
The Lincoln Topiary, a 16'x 8' bust, was created by local artist Duke Oursler in 2020. Constructed of durable cast stone and steel features, the beard feature on the monument of the 16th president comes to 'life' with flowering plants and greenery, changed out for the seasons. The monument was designed as part of the MACVB's 'Looking for Lincoln' self-guided tour in the region.
Besides these latest incidents, an unknown person or persons have been 'tagging' (spraying grafitti) on public property throughout Macomb.
