Statue Honoring Women and Justice Vandalized at University of Houston

Officials at the University of Houston said on Tuesday that a vandal attacked Shahzia Sikander’s sculpture “Witness,” beheading the work, which is a monument to women and justice installed on campus. Footage of the destruction, which occurred early Monday morning amid the harsh weather of Hurricane Beryl and power outages, was obtained by campus police, officials told the artist.

Sikander, a Pakistani American artist, often creates works that examine questions of politics, language and empire. The damaged statue was one of the artist’s first major public sculptures in a nearly 30-year career.

“We were disappointed to learn the statue was damaged early Monday morning as Hurricane Beryl was hitting Houston. The damage is believed to be intentional,” Kevin Quinn, executive director of media relations for the university, said in a statement to The New York Times. “The University of Houston Police Department is currently investigating the matter.”

On Monday, Rachel G. Mohl, the university’s head of public art programs, wrote to alert Sikander to the destruction, saying she was “in utter shock and deeply saddened that this happened.” In the email, reviewed by The New York Times, Mohl wrote: “This has disturbed all of us, and we are working to fix this unbelievable and regrettable act as quickly as possible amidst the immense damage that the hurricane brought.”

For several months, the 18-foot-tall statue of a female figure has been under increased surveillance since an anti-abortion group drew attention to the sculpture after its installation in February, calling it a “satanic” memorial to abortion and the Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The university subsequently canceled a talk by Sikander and an opening celebration. Anti-abortion demonstrators then held a small protest near the sculpture. University officials have not said if the sculpture’s defacement was related to the activists.