Have you ever been tagged in an Instagram post with a photo you’re not happy with? Now imagine instead of it being a photo, it is a statue. Of you. That is ten feet tall and stands proudly in your hometown. Oh, and it is famous for being ugly.
Well, that is one problem for Manchester City star Erling Haaland. Or I should say it was a problem. Because now it appears the statue has been stolen.
Yes, overnight, thieves in the Norwegian town of Bryne, using a crane, removed the apparent eyesore that stood 50 feet above a local store, leaving the statue’s owner, Tore Sivertsen, confused.
The businessman commissioned the artwork for £10,000 (AU$17,000) as a tribute to the talented footballer, with the hope of it being auctioned off and the proceeds going to help fund a Tanzanian hospital, but now, just like the statue, that dream has disappeared.
Sivertsen told The Sun Newspaper in the UK, “We are all enormously proud of Erling”.
“I thought it would be good to commission a statue to pay tribute.
“Some have complained it’s too ugly though, let’s face it, Erling is not a pretty guy. But I was still shocked that someone decided to steal it.”
The statues creator, Kjetil Barane, used a 100-year-old piece of wood and took a year to finish his artwork, and if having a crack at Erling’s appearance wasn’t enough for Sivertsen, he then went on to give more backhanded compliments .
“I accept it may not be to everyone’s taste, but I like it,” Barane said.
“It’s a work of art rather than a realistic representation of Erling Haaland.”