What’s next for the landmark set on fire in Key West? A new paint job — and some rum?
The city of Key West has started work to restore the famous Southernmost Point buoy after vandals defaced the tourist attraction in the early hours of New Year’s Day by starting a fire.
The flames charred the front of the giant concrete buoy, one of the most recognized and photographed places in the Keys, ruining the painted design that’s done by hand.
As Key West police continues to search for the suspects, the city is working on a new paint job that marks the spot as “90 miles to Cuba, Southernmost Point, Continental U.S.A.”
The repairs will cost at least $5,000 in supplies and work hours, said City Manager Patti McLauchlin, because it needed more than fresh paint.
“They had to go back and sand it,” she said. “Because of the damage, it’s a lot of sanding to do.”
The damage didn’t deter tourists, who over the weekend still flocked to the seaside attraction at Whitehead and South streets to pose for photos with the landmark.
On Monday morning, though, signs warning of “wet paint” were on a few barricades separating people from getting too close to the concrete buoy.
Depending on the weather, the buoy should be finished within three to four days, the city said in a Facebook post.
Key West police on Monday said they have identified but have not found two suspects, whose mischief was captured on video by a webcam that is pointed at the buoy 24 hours a day. Police declined to release names or hometowns on Monday, said city spokeswoman Alyson Crean.
“The suspects have not been located, so detectives are not releasing identities so that the investigation is not compromised,” Crean said.
The webcam video, provided to FLKeysNews.com and the Miami Herald by Two Oceans Marketing, shows one person dragging a Christmas tree over to the buoy and the other person later lighting it on fire. Then they record themselves with their phones before walking out of the camera’s view.
The buoy was dedicated on Sept. 10, 1983, according to Key West historian and author David Sloan.
Sloan and business owner Paul Menta, as members of “The Conch Republic,” posted a video statement on Facebook in response to the incident that left many local people irate.
“This really is a treasure,” Sloan says in the video. “This weighs 19.8 tons. It was built at a cost of $910.17. But it’s more significant than just those facts to us.”
Menta explains that the giant buoy was planted as a way to prevent people from stealing the old signs that marked the spot as the “Southernmost Point.”
“They put this thing in that could not be stolen and I’ve never seen it disrespected like this,” Menta says.
“This is photographed by millions of people every year. It’s one of the most photographed things in all the United States,” Menta added.
He then offered a case of rum from his local distillery to anyone who can help police catch the vandals.
This story was originally published January 3, 2022 at 2:19 PM.
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