A Crieff artist has said she is “devastated” after her work has disappeared in the town centre.
June McEwan, with the help of a group of local students, constructed a huge four-metre wide winged structure made out of chicken wire for this year’s Crieff Arts Festival.
However, only two hours after it was placed on the Murray Fountain in James Square, the work vanished.
June, who is the organiser of the festival, said: “No-one knows where it is. The wings were only up for a matter of hours.
“We have decorated the fountain every year for the last six years, it is absolutely devastating that it has been stolen.
“I think someone has taken it off and the bin men in the area have mistaken it for fly tipping and binned it.
“It is four-metres wide and it was difficult to handle so I don’t know how they have done it.
“Over the years there has been controversy over the decorations of the fountain.
“People think it is disrespectful as they think it is a memorial for the dead, which it is not.
“I spoke to the Murray family who donated it to the council many years ago and they said they were happy with the decorations.
“I had a group of girls work on it with me for their school portfolio but now they don’t have any decent pictures of it – it’s a shame.”
Nigel Gatherer, chairman of Crieff Arts Festival, said: “We are very disappointed because we know how much work the young folk put into their artwork.
“They were understandably devastated.”
Despite June’s disappointment, she is excited for this year’s art festival.
Locals can join in the fun in James Square on Saturday between 11am and 4pm for a huge painting festival.
This year’s event will allow residents to paint flowers on canvas to be displayed at Murray Fountain, or donated to local charities.
She added: “This year we are doing a one-day mad painting festival.
“People can come and join in the fun with the ukulele bands playing and a flash mob.
“A local man named Anthony MacIntyre, who runs The Wallflowers and the People wellbeing charity, contacted me asking if we could accommodate a few flower paintings this year.
“Instead of a few, I thought why not make the whole of Crieff town into flower paintings.
“I have been encouraging people to do their own paintings of flowers before the day and I currently have 241.
“That includes the oldest resident in Crieff who is 100-years-old who gave me two paintings.”
