You break it, you pay for it: that's the message from Wellington's mayor to the man who broke a sculpture on the city's waterfront.
Hunter Macdonald was taken to hospital yesterday with moderate injuries after climbing and swinging off Len Lye's 'Water Whirler'.
His reasoning? "I was bored out of my mind," he told Stuff.
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His reckless actions didn't win him many fans, including Wellington Mayor Justin Lester.
"We've referred this to the police and to be honest, I don't have a lot of sympathy."
Lye expert Terry Parkes was a little more direct about his feelings toward Mr Macdonald.
"I think you're a dick!" he said.
'Water Whirler' cost $1 million to install back in 2006, and this latest round of damage is expected to cost tens of thousands of dollars.
"You break it, you buy it," Mayor Lester says.
"We all know when we go and use something, that if you then do make a mistake and damage it, you should pay for it.
"I'm not saying it's willful, it's certainly very silly."
Mr Macdonald says he's remorseful, and willing to do whatever's required to make amends.
"I do like an audience," he told Stuff. "With the people there I felt the need to give the people what they want, push it to the limit as they say. It obviously ended badly for Wellington and for me."
For Mayor Lester, the incident came at the worst possible time.
"We'd just been fixing it as well, because it'd had some damage after the Kaikoura earthquake. [It was] almost ready to open and then this goes and happens."
Mr Parkes is a die-hard supporter of Mr Lye's work, and says the damage is an utter shame.
"We've got a responsibility, and I think that what we should be doing is being very vigilant and watching these works and reporting vandals straight away. Well done the person who filmed it."
Wellington City Council will now have to go to the Len Lye Trust and engineers to get the sculpture back up and running.
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