The year Liverpool was celebrating being awarded the European Capital of Culture, a new sculpture of The Beatles was vandalised after a perceived insult to the city.
Back in 2008, as Liverpool was showcasing the best of itself to the world, comments made by ex-Beatle drummer Ringo Starr on the Jonathan Ross chat show were said to have caused "outrage" to people in Liverpool. Following the TV appearance, one saboteur took things into their own hands and gave the newly placed topiary sculpture of the famous mop-top an extreme short-back-and-sides.
The controversial comments happened on the BBC One show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross in January 2008. When the host asked him what he missed most about Liverpool, Ringo answered: "er, no...".
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The legendary drummer, who lives in Los Angeles, also had homes in England and Monaco. He did go on to say he loved the city as it was where his family was and where he grew up, but his flippant response didn't go down well.
Three months after his appearance aired on BBC One, a vandal struck - lopping off Ringo's head - leaving the leafy figures of John, Paul and George untouched. The sculpture had been unveiled just a month earlier at Liverpool's South Parkway transport interchange in Garston.
The piece was created by Italian sculptor Franco Covill and had been commissioned by Merseytravel. In 2011, Ringo Starr is said to have apologised for saying he missed nothing about his home city in the interview.
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The ex-Beatle, who was starting a UK tour including a gig at the Liverpool Empire, said in a BBC interview that he did not think he had offended people in Liverpool with his 2008 remarks. He told a BBC interviewer: "I apologise to those people (who were offended), as long as they live in Liverpool, not outside," adding: "No real Scouser took offence, only I believe people from the outside."
It's not the first time Starr's comments have caused controversy. Also in 2008, the ex-Beatle posted a video message on his website saying he would no longer sign memorabilia and fan mail would be thrown away. He later explained his decision was prompted by people selling the signed items on eBay.
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The sculpture's decapitation is not the only time a Beatles themed artwork has been vandalised. In 2019, the statue of Eleanor Rigby, sculpted by Tommy Steel, that sits on Stanley Street in Liverpool city centre had its plaque stolen.
Now, 14 years after the topiary Ringo was vandalised following his comments, the Liverpool Echo returned to The Beatles sculpture outside South Parkway to see if his head had been restored. Unfortunately, as photographs show, Franco Covill's homage to the Fab Four has seen better days.
Do you remember when Ringo Starr's topiary sculpture lost its head? Let us know in the comments section below.
It's now almost impossible to discern if any of The Beatles figures are fully intact, such is the overgrown state of the sculpture. Now more amorphous blobs than representations of John, Paul, George and Ringo in their heyday, Ringo's 'Beatles' drumkit can still be made out amongst the undergrowth.
Time, as well as obscuring the sculpture, also appears to be something of a healer. In March 2022, a giant mural of Ringo Starr appeared on the side of the Empress pub in Toxteth which is set to be transformed into a Beatles themed hotel.
