Residents of Warrack, a small town of only 70 people, in Victoria, Australia, have been repeatedly vandalized by a mysterious person leaving Minion sculptures throughout the town.
The first sculpture appeared just before Christmas, and since then a total of 24 sculptures have been left at Warrack homes and businesses. At this rate, everyone in the whole town will have their very own minion sculpture by next Christmas!
Security footage shows that the mysterious benefactors - er, vandals, appear to be Santa Clause and a bear. Or at least two people in those costumes. The pictures a little fuzzy so I can't say for certain.
Obviously whoever is making the minions knows their recipients (or is Santa Clause and simply omniscient) because the sculptures are all personalized to the recipient.
Like this jockey minion at the home of a family who owns race horses:
Or this wine-guzzling minion, at the town's only business, a local vineyard:
Most of the sculptures are not just for show but have a function, like a mailbox or a planter.
No fire hydrants yet though.
One recent recipient of a minion was local gardener Gwen Pilgrim, who is a cancer patient. She said the gift made her day.
I just had a smile from ear to ear because I've been waiting for one for a while.
One local man, Daniel Buckingham, has been widely accused of being the mystery maker of minions. He has denied the claims, but he has a sculpture of Gru at his house, so take that as you will.
Buckingham told ABC,
The amount of people actually coming out to look at the minions … it's surprising. My wife was … talking to a young couple with some kids who came out for this and stayed for a family picnic, so it's good to see that, that's for sure.
He went on to say that the fun practical joke has brought the people of the town together in a unique way.
Coming out of COVID, there are some pretty serious things going on in the world, and this has joined the community. There are a lot of people talking that don't usually talk. It's good to see the community pull together just over someone that's having a bit of a joke!
