After the recent act of vandalism against the grotesque statue known across campus as Olivegoyle, should security increase on the statue if and when its head is replaced?

Last week, the head of the prominent NIU attraction disappeared. The vanishing, the second time this year, now leads to speculation as to what to do with the statue and how it can be secured.

According to NIU Police Chief Don Grady said, the disappearing act of the grotesque may appear to be a prank, but when it’s resolved, what’s to stop the statue from being vandalized again?

“It would appear as though, if it is pranks, then wouldn’t the prank be likely to continue?” Grady said. “I remember one university campus where they painted a rock. The rock gets painted every day because somebody paints something new on the rock. … So now the rock is just painted and it’s accepted that that’s what they’re going to do and nobody tries to stop anyone from doing it.”

Should more security be placed on the statue?

“If you put a fence around it, doesn’t that defeat the purpose of it being artwork and something to be enjoyed?” Grady said. “It seems to me that what we need to do is educate the population, get people to understand it. Look, this is part of the university and it’s kind of a neat thing to have on a university campus.”

Patricia Perkins, assistant to the vice president of finance and facilities, said she hasn’t heard of any new plans to have the statue repaired.

“I am not aware of any current plans to replace the head,” Perkins said. “With all the other things going on in the world I can’t imagine why someone would do something blatantly destructive.”

Grady said that while there was an initial lead in the investigation into finding the head, it turned out to be unsuccessful.

“At this point we don’t have any fresh leads or ideas about where it may have gone,” he said.

Grady said if the head of the statue is returned by the alleged vandal, there would be no questions asked.

“Just bring the head back and drop it off here at the [police station],” he said.

Freshman business major Jon Powell said that stealing the head of the popular statue is disrespectful and should be investigated further.

“I think vandalism should not be tolerated and something needs to be done,” Powell said. “It’s a sign of disrespect toward the university and people should have more pride in the university they go to.”