Vandals Damage Old Tom Morris Statue For Second Time In Three Months

A statue of Old Tom Morris at St Andrews has been damaged again, less than three months after it was repaired following its first bout of vandalism.

St Andrews-based golf historian Roger McStravick shared the news via social media on Sunday, stating he was lost for words after finding part of the artwork missing.

He wrote: "I don’t know what to say. The Tom Morris statue has been damaged again. The club was snapped off and they didn’t leave the club this time.

"If anybody saw anything, please DM. Seems that there was some partying going on. Broken glass near statue etc."

The iconic layout in Scotland initially unveiled the figure back in October, with the founding father of golf sitting proudly on a bronze plinth on Bow Butts close to the 18^th green at the Old Course.

Estimated to have cost upwards of £100,000 ($123,000) to erect, it had been sculpted by David Annand and was revealed to the world by Morris’ great great granddaughter, Sheila Walker.

The statue was a tribute to Morris, who died in 1908 aged 86 but remains the oldest winner of The Open, achieved at the age of 46. He and his son are also still the only father-son duo both to have lifted the Claret Jug in its 150-plus-year history.

Yet, less than a month after it fixed in place, McStravick found part of the statue had been broken off. Widespread condemnation of the vandals arrived shortly after, including from PGA Tour pros Billy Horschel and Stephan Jaeger as well as Sky Sports Golf presenter, Iona Stephen.

A plethora of offers to help pay for repairs were quickly made, and as a result of many people's generosity, the original design was on show once more just a few weeks' later.

However, that joy was short-lived following the latest act of vandalism on a British golf course. Other recent examples include several huge divots being made in one of the greens at Prestwick St Nicholas Golf Club near Royal Troon and people ripping up multiple holes on an ATV, causing 'up to £100,000 worth of damage' at one of England's top courses.