Thieves have struck in the dead of night to steal Carlisle’s Cursing Stone – or have they?
A short video has appeared on Facebook featuring a gang of masked people hauling the Cursing Stone out of the underpass, using ropes, before dragging it through the streets at the dead of night and throwing it in the river.
It may be the answer to the city’s prayers as the stone has been blamed for many of Carlisle’s tragedies, including the floods and the outbreak of foot and mouth disease.
Or has a gang really taken the granite artwork? The reel has been posted by the mysterious Cumberland Objects group – a guerrilla art collective known so far for their golden custard creams.
We were sent a message by Cumberland Objects this afternoon, Tuesday March 4.
They said: “If anyone asks, we decided to take action after the Gillingham game. Something had to be done.
“We did it for United, for Carlisle and for freedom. And maybe it will help get the city centre fixed on time.
“Big up the Blues. Tonight is a challenge, but at least that stone has been sorted.”
They are so shy they claim they don’t technically exist.
Cumberland Objects is a project to celebrate the obscure and uncelebrated anecdotal heritage of Cumbria.
The custard creams in Carlisle pay homage to McVitie’s which produces 6.5 million of the biscuits in Carlisle every 24 hours while the pies represent Bennett’s, a popular old pie shop from days gone by in Cleator Moor.
But the people/person/organisation behind the impromptu scavenger hunts are extremely reticent about talking about themselves – Cumbria’s answer to Banksy, when approached by Cumbria Crack, only wanted to talk about the joy they were bringing.
The granite Cursing Stone, made by Andy Altman and designed by Gordon Young, was installed as part of the Millennium Gallery under Castle Way.
It features just over 300 words from a 1,069-word curse by the Archbishop of Glasgow, Gavin Dunbar to condemn the Border Reivers in 1525.
