Angry locals say cone antics 'not worth the five minute laugh' as images show Sherlock Holmes statue damaged
Local councillors said the crumbling sandstone on the statue highlighted the lasting damage caused by people recklessly clambering on the statue
Residents in Edinburgh’s New Town claim a statue of Sherlock Holmes in Picardy Place has been damaged, amid ongoing controversy surrounding the craze of topping the city’s historic statues with traffic cones.
Pictures shared by members of the New Town and Broughton Community Council show pale, crumbling stone on the base of the famous statue, which marks the nearby birthplace of the character’s creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
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Last week, community councillors took to social media to warn residents that traffic cone antics - which they say predate the World Cup and have been a “growing issue” in recent years - is putting Edinburgh’s culturally and historically important monuments at risk.
Now, they say damage discovered on the statue highlights the lasting impact of the supposedly light-hearted practice.
Posting on Instagram, the councillors said: “This is exactly the type of pointless damage we highlighted a few days ago.
“The pale, crumbling stone tells you the damage is new. Very sad. Not worth the five-minute laugh it gave someone.”
They said other statues across the city could see similar vandalism as a result of the trend.
Last week, Shaun Hodge, one of the community councillors, told the Edinburgh Evening News that while residents want the Capital to be an enjoyable place to live, there is a difference between “harmless pranks and putting our city’s treasured landmarks at risk”.
He said: “A five-minute laugh with a cone on a statue can mean months of expensive restoration work, or worse, someone getting seriously hurt climbing to place it, or a cone blowing off in the wind and injuring a passer-by.
“Our iconic monuments like the Scott Monument and the Sherlock Holmes statue aren’t just decorations; they’re part of what makes Edinburgh special.”
He urged anyone who spotted any cones on the city’s historic monuments to report it to Edinburgh Council.
The Cockburn Association, which campaigns to preserve Edinburgh's built heritage, also raised concerns about potential damage caused by the antics.
The charity’s Assistant Director James Garry said: "Edinburgh's monuments have always inspired affection as well as admiration, and a sense of humour is part of city life. However, these are important historic structures, many of them listed, and they were never designed to be climbed on.
“The concern isn't really the traffic cones themselves, but the damage and safety risks that can result from people scrambling over monuments to put them there or remove them.”
Last week, Edinburgh Council Transport and Environment Convener, Councillor Stephen Jenkinson, said: “Whilst I’m sure these have been put up in good humour and with the best intentions, we need to consider the safety of the public above all.
“Unsecured traffic cones could potentially cause injury or present a road safety hazard, which is why they’ve been removed. I think we can all agree that there is only one statue in Scotland that has truly immortalised the cone, so I’d urge people to not attempt any imitations.”
Edinburgh council has been approached for comment on the damage to the statue.