Humorous vandal puts googly eyes on a Revolutionary War hero statue, but officials call it 'no laughing matter'

Hope Schreiber
·Writer
Savannah, Ga., police are trying to find the culprit who vandalized a Nathanael Greene monument with googly eyes. (Photo: City of Savannah Government via Facebook)
Savannah, Ga., police are trying to find the culprit who vandalized a Nathanael Greene monument with googly eyes. (Photo: City of Savannah Government via Facebook)

It’s like no matter where you go in Johnson Square in Savannah, Ga., the eyes of the monument of one of America’s top Revolutionary War generals, Nathanael Greene, are following you.

No, it isn’t because the monument is haunted — Maj. Gen. Greene has not yet returned from the grave — but because someone has vandalized (or, rather, vandal-eyes-ed) the face of “the Savior of the South” with googly eyes. And now the police are on the case.

A post on the City of Savannah Government Facebook page begins with, “Who did this?! Someone placed googly eyes on our historic #NathanaelGreene statue.”

Who, indeed! The post goes on to read, “It may look funny but harming our historic monuments and public property is no laughing matter, in fact, it’s a crime.”

According to Georgia law, criminal trespass — the vandals had to cross a fence to get to the statue — is a misdemeanor offense. However, if the googly eyes caused more than $500 worth of damage, it would be considered criminal damage to property, which is a felony.

Luckily, the Island Packet reports that there was no damage done to the statue, according to Bianca Johnson, spokesperson for the Savannah Police Department. Johnson says that security camera footage is being reviewed to find the criminal mastermind. Our money is on the ghost of Lord Cornwallis. (Perhaps it was even the ghost of the trickster — and Greene’s friend — George Washington!)

More likely, it was a currently alive human, but who doesn’t like a good ghost story in October?

For whatever reason, instead of peeling the googly eyes off the statue, the city shared this on its Facebook page, and plenty of people were quick to make a joke or question why resources were being used to solve this minor mystery.

So be warned: If you see any wisecracking youths at your Hobby Lobby or Joanne’s Fabric stocking up on googly eyes, you may be witnessing the start of a hilarious crime spree.

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