City promises to fix fingerless statue

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - It's been at least three years since a statue of Rhode Island's founder was defaced, or more accurately, de-fingered, by vandals. Now the city of Providence is finally promising to replace the missing digits.

Vandals stole all five fingers on the left hand of the Roger Williams statue at Prospect Terrace Park, as well as the thumb on the right hand. It's the third time in the last two decades the statue's fingers have been removed.

The city also removed graffiti from the statue just last weekend.

Now the Providence Parks Departments is hoping some new technology will keep the vandals away. A motion-sensored camera was installed in the park this week to fend off graffiti artists or even finger thieves.

The Parks Department is also promising to replace the missing fingers soon. The new fingers will be reinforced with steel pins to make them harder to break.

The city won't say exactly when the fingers will be restored, but the superintendent of the Parks Department says it will get done by the end of this year.

"I don't know if it will ever be fixed or not, because if it gets fixed it might be broken again, " said George Eliades. "He is the founder of the state, and it would certainly be nice if people would show more respect".