Wojtek sculptor pleads: '˜Keep rubbing my statue's nose'

THE sculptor of a memorial to a beer drinking bear in Princes Street Gardens has urged visitors to keep stroking its nose.

The Evening News recently reported that the statue of Wojtek, the Polish war hero bear who lived out his last years in Edinburgh, was being damaged due to too many people rubbing his nose.

Council officials even called the act “vandalism” warning expensive damage was being caused to the much loved animal.

But now Alan Beattie Herriot, who designed the memorial, has said the polished bronze nose shows a “continued display of affection” for Wojtek.

He said: “It would take hundreds of years for the palm of a hand to wear away the nose. I am delighted the public are so tactile with my statue of Wojtek.

“He was a sociable beast and to see children on his back in Princes Street Gardens is heart-warming. In life he was well-loved, and for me, his polished nose is a continued display of affection.”