Police in Franklin, Massachusetts, are searching for the vandals who destroyed an art installation that had ties to a historic moment for the town.
They're looking for who destroyed an art installation created by students at Wheaton College in Norton.
"It's disappointing and I know the students were disappointed," said Kelly Goff, assistant professor of art at Wheaton College.
Students in his public art class created an installation called "Leaving History," which was installed at the Franklin Sculpture Park.
"In honor of the original gift of Benjamin Franklin to the town of Franklin in 1790 of 116 books," Goff said. "Those 116 books led to the founding of the first public library in America."
Students created books using Tyvek and attached them to tree branches nearly 15 feet high.
"They were installed with very thick fishing line sort of floating in the trees," said Goff. "It was done over the course of a few weeks."
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The entire installation is gone after pieces started disappearing Dec. 1.
Police are looking for who's responsible.
"An investigation did start with the Franklin Police Department,” said Sergeant Brian Johnson. “At this time we have identified a person of interest."
As for the artwork, Goff believes his students will want to reinstall it.
"People who go to the park have a little bit of a sense of what the piece was about and they'll appreciate it," he said.
