A moving memorial to a young man that appeared in a Cardiff park has been vandalised days after it was constructed. The striking sculpture of a dragon wearing a bucket hat appeared in Victoria Park in the Canton area of the city earlier this week, and is a memorial to a 22-year-old student who lived in close proximity to the park.
Ethan Williams died suddenly after collapsing in a gym in December 2020. The sculpture has been carved from a Californian redwood tree that was felled due to being unsafe because it was dead.
Ethan's family approached Cardiff Council to ask if the felled tree in the park could be turned into a sculpture dedicated to his memory. His family say the carving has saved the tree from becoming a stump.
READ MORE: The moving reason a dragon tree sculpture has appeared in Cardiff's Victoria Park
The sculpture was created by Newport-based company Wood Art Works, founded in 1999 by Chris Wood. However, just days after the work on the sculpture first began, photographs show that the memorial has been vandalised. Writing has appeared on the sculpture, saying: "If only trees provided us with oxygen to breathe" and "Here once nature laid".
Chris, who began carving the tree on October 4, previously explained to WalesOnline that it was Ethan's favourite tree in the park, and that he had been contacted by Ethan's sister to carve the sculpture. He had hoped to finish it by Monday, October 10. You can get more Cardiff news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
"Ethan was fiercely Welsh. He loved the football, he loved rugby, he was very nationalistic," Chris said, explaining the meaning behind the design. While the original plan had been to carve a dragon, the decision was then made to add a bucket hat in a poignant nod to the very bucket hat Ethan wore himself.
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