Charity's joy as damaged Ipswich Town owl restored

The new owl has been placed on a tree trunk and concrete plinth in its original spot

A charity has praised its local community after the restoration of a popular statue that had been destroyed.

The Blossom Charity, in Eye, Suffolk, was left "devastated" last month when the Ipswich Town owl that had been on display in the town's market place was vandalised.

Clare Jackson, events manager at the charity, said the team immediately "leapt into action" to replace the owl and it is now back in its original spot.

However, she said they were left shocked when the person responsible for the damage came forward.

"The day when it happened, everyone was upset," she said.

"Later that day, someone incredibly walked into the shop and said, 'It was me, I'm really sorry.'

"They offered to pay straight away for the repair and are also going to do some volunteer work with the charity."

She added: "Never in our wildest dreams did we think that would actually happen.

"We didn't think someone would come forward so openly and be so genuinely apologetic and want to make it right."

The owl was destroyed during a late night incident in July

Ms Jackson said the charity did not want to reveal the name of the person responsible and stood by its ethos of treating everyone with kindness.

She said the incident was "a very silly mistake".

"Someone did something without thinking and the regret that came from that when they realised the next day that it was just a really daft thing to do," she continued.

"It wasn't done with any malice - that was the other worry we had.

"People were worried was it because it was Ipswich Town, was it because of the sponsor or the artist or the charity?

"It was none of those. It was just a really daft mistake which hopefully they've learnt from."

Clare Jackson, pictured with the original owl, was delighted the statue had been replaced

The owl, which is painted wearing an Ipswich Town football shirt, is part of the Go On Safari trail around the town featuring many other animals.

The new statue has been placed on a real tree trunk on a concrete plinth, which Ms Jackson felt made the owl look "grand".

"The one thing that shines through for us is that something bad helped something nice come out of it," she said.

"The whole community pulling together, respecting our decision in how to handle it, and being so pleased to see him back, it's a nice story that's come out of it."

The owl, and all the other animals in the trail, will be auctioned off in September to raise money for the charity.