Dropped wallet provides clue to Jayhawk vandalism

It wasn’t hard to find the hooligans thought to have roughed up Kansas University’s “Classic Jayhawk” sculpture over the weekend.

One alleged perpetrator dropped his wallet during the vandalism. When he returned to the scene, police were there.

“I hear that a Mensa membership card was not in the wallet,” KU Spokesman Todd Cohen said.

Police arrested two 23-year-old men with no KU affiliation, said Chris Keary, assistant chief of the KU Public Safety Office. Keary would not release the men’s names, but two men booked at Douglas County Jail in an incident with the same case number were Andrew H. Froistad of Lailua, Hawaii, and Matthew S. Lukevics of Pensacola, Fla.

Classic Jayhawk, one of the many stars of 2003’s Jayhawks on Parade, is a favorite for KU visitors and students who often get their pictures taken by its side.

The fiberglass bird was ripped from its concrete base and rolled on the pavement.

It sustained lacerations to the head and wing, said Wayne Pearse, an engineer with KU Memorial Unions who will doctor the bird back to health. Classic Jayhawk also had both big yellow feet broken.

“He’s grounded,” said Pat Beard, building service director for KU Memorial Unions. “I don’t think he’s going to be flying for a little while.”

KU engineer Wayne Pearse works on the Classic

“That’s horrible,” said Amanda Schwartzhoff, a KU freshman who relied on Classic Jayhawk for a union landmark when first learning the campus.

Amanda Turner, another KU freshman, also was stunned.

“It’s a bit disrespectful,” she said.

Classic Jayhawk is undergoing a facelift, and should be returned to its perch by Friday.

It’s the latest act of vandalism for the state’s largest university.

In another attack, a KU billboard on Interstate 70 west of Topeka has been sprayed with purple paint declaring “Go State!” with accompanying art of a male body part.

“It’s good advertising for some of K-State’s finest art majors,” said Patrick Maxon, president of the Topeka Jayhawk Club, which put up the billboard.

Maxon said culprits in that case have not been found, but he suspected they were Kansas State University students.

“It always seems to coincide with when KU is going over there to play a football game,” Maxon said. “The fans seem to be a little nervous about whether they can win or not. They take out their early frustrations out on our sign.”

Fixing the sign is expected to cost between $800 and $1,000, Maxon said.

Maxon said he’s been looking for a site in downtown Manhattan to place the sign, but hasn’t found one yet. He said he thought a city site would be safer from vandals than the relatively quiet, middle-of-the-country location it currently occupies.

“There has to be some honest people in Manhattan,” he said.