A lone seagull stands vigil over Len Lye's damaged 'Water Whirler' sculpture on Wellington's waterfront. Photo: RNZ/Bill Hickman
An iconic sculpture on Wellington's waterfront has snapped again, after being fixed only a year ago.
Wellington City Council said Len Lye's Water Whirler, a wand-like sculpture, snapped on Thursday afternoon.
"It appears no person was involved in the breakage," a spokesperson said. "We'll work to retrieve the broken section and get a fix done as soon as possible, after we've investigated the cause of the break."
An RNZ reporter passing the motorised kinetic sculpture said it appeared to have been reduced to a stump.
The Water Whirler was last repaired in October 2024, 18 months after it was removed, following a vandal attack in April 2023.
The sculpture was also broken in 2018, when a man climbed the artwork, snapping it in two.
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