Published: 10:40AM GMT twenty-six February 2010
There are assorted theories as to because squirrels nip at lead with a little experts desiring they do it to scold a vegetable imbalance in their system. Photo: Ben Birchall/PA Wire Staff at a nation estate beheld the design was lonesome in serrated outlines and thought someone had attempted to penetrate of the arms with a saw.
But wildlife experts who carefully thought about the statue suggested the outlines were left by a organisation of inspired squirrels.
Shortly thereafter one utterly bald squirrel was found and had to be put down by vets who pronounced it had suffered lead poisoning.
There are assorted theories as to because squirrels nip at lead with a little experts desiring they do it to scold a vegetable imbalance in their system.
Others contend they might be immoderate the lead as they eat insects on the statue"s aspect or the inspired squirrels could think the statue is a tree and inapplicable designation the lead for bark.
The statue, called Flora, is located in the ancestral gardens of Dartington Hall in Totnes, Devon.
Head gardener Neil Dyer pronounced a part of of staff beheld the repairs to the statue last week end and feared it had been struck by yobs.
He said: ""One part of of staff saw the punch outlines and thought it looked similar to a blade or saw had been taken to it so they insincere it had been vandalised.
""It seems a little of the squirrels have taken a fondness to to the statue and have been eating afar at it. It"s really strange.
""The military were called but we in the future realised what had been going on. It"s not a large volume of repairs but it will be really costly to repair.""
Steve Hussey, from the Wildlife Trust, pronounced the animals might be carnivorous of nuts and are chewing at the statue in an try to find food.
He said: ""Squirrels will nibble at anything and one thing that mostly happens is that they nibble by people"s electrics.
A military orator said: ""We were called to examine a probable situation of desolation but it was found to be non-suspicious and enquiries are no longer continuing.""
The statue was done in the 18th century by an different sculptor and was presented to the estate in 1967.
Dartington Hall is a Grade I listed Gothic skill that is right away a secretly owned road house and discussion centre.
