Two men arrested after goat statues vandalized

Two men were arrested after vandalizing decorative goats along Main Street early Thursday morning.

Hendersonville Police Department Chief Herbert Blake said residents along Main Street contacted the Police Department at 3:25 a.m. Thursday morning about individuals roaming Main Street and damaging the decorative goats.

Sergeant Todd Letterman and officers Curtis Philon, Trae Laws and Phillip Hosmer responded to the complaint and located two suspects.

Daniel Joseph Markel, 27, of Flat Rock, and Craig Owen Hensley, 29, of Hendersonville, were both charged with damage to personal property and given a $2,000 secured bond.

Executive director of Downtown Hendersonville Inc., Lee Henderson-Hill, who organized the downtown art display “Kidding Around Downtown,” assessed the damage Thursday.

“Unfortunately, there were two males downtown who got a little rowdy with their activities and vandalized some goats,” she said. “At this point we have not gotten estimates on the cost to repair the two goats.”

Henderson-Hill said the two goats that were damaged were “Groovy Goat,” placed outside Hannah Flanagan’s restaurant, and “Mountain Goat,” placed on Main Street between First and Allen Streets.

“Mountain Goat” had it’s head knocked off, while “Groovy Goat” is missing an ear.

“We will contact a local auto body repair shop that does fiberglass repair and get estimates from them,” she said. “Fortunately, since they have caught the perpetrators, we will file a claim with the court and get reimbursed the cost of repairs.”

Henderson-Hill is optimistic that the goats can be repaired.

“Even though there is damage to the goats, they can be repaired and have some artist touch up,” she said. “Unfortunately for “Groovy Goat” the ear is still missing and as long as the ear is missing it will make repairing the goat harder.”

This is not the first incident of vandalism to the downtown art display.

Two teens were charged with larceny and damage to property in July when they stole two of the goats named “Connie-Mara” and “Mountain Goat.” The decorative goats are placed outside of businesses along Main Street and are funded by the Friends of the Carl Sandburg Home.

“Kidding Around Downtown” kicked off as the new public art display organized by Downtown Hendersonville Inc., replacing a five-year run of decorative downtown bears.

The motif of the goats was inspired by Lilian Sandburg, wife of Carl Sandburg. She raised goats at the Sandburg home in Flat Rock and developed different goat breeding techniques, according to Sarah Perschall, chief of visitor services at the Carl Sandburg Home. The goats also help celebrate the 40-year anniversary of the Carl Sandburg Home becoming a national park. The goats will remain on display in downtown Hendersonville through Saturday, Oct. 25, when a public auction will occur with a portion of the proceeds benefiting Henderson County charities.

Henderson-Hill said that she was disappointed that any of the goats have been damaged because it may not bring in as much money to help the local charities.