New Zealand

Court appearance for sculpture accused

13:33 pm on 9 November 2018

The man charged over breaking a valuable Len Lye sculpture on Wellington's waterfront has appeared in court this morning.

Hunter MacDonald Photo: RNZ / Ben Strang

Hunter Laurie Browne MacDonald, 28, has been remanded without plea and will reappear in court on 30 November.

The Water Whirler sculpture snapped in October after Mr MacDonald climbed to the top of it and it bent under his weight.

Mr MacDonald would not talk to media following his court appearance, walking straight to a waiting Uber.

Days after breaking the sculpture, Mr MacDonald told Stuff he was "bored out of my mind" while walking along the waterfront.

He then decided to climb the sculpture, which cost about $300,000 when it was installed in 2006.

"I decided to stop and sort of attempt some sort of gymnastic, acrobatic stuff on the sculpture."

The sculpture had been under repair since the Kaikoura earthquake in 2016, and was set to return to operation by November.