After an art heist hit a New Hampshire town, ‘the banana is back'
'I would like to very much thank whoever returned it for doing so,' he said. 'It was the right thing to do.'
In the original banana's absence, other bananas were affixed to the large steel fishing-rod, which was part of the original artwork. Cashin said those additions would remain on display, alongside a game camera, padlocks, and zip ties contributed by the police department to ensure the sculpture remains intact.
Get N.H. Morning Report
A weekday newsletter delivering the N.H. news you need to know right to your inbox.
Enter Email
Sign Up
'Enjoy your artwork, Franconia,' he said.
Advertisement
The piece was made by Massachusetts-based sculptor and art educator
'It's been the funniest outcome of any of my art ever,' Belenky said. 'I'm absolutely obsessed.'
He said the police department is now planning to put it on a float for a town celebration on July 12.
The banana was missing for about two weeks from late May into June. The artwork, entitled 'Elevated Fruit,' was installed on the front lawn of a local restaurant as part of the
Advertisement
The foam-and-fiberglass banana was only on display for four days before it first went missing, prompting community members to rally around the artwork, asking whoever had taken it to please bring it back.
Someone apparently heeded their cry.
Kathie Lovett, co-chair of the Franconia Artwalk, said one morning in June, the banana had been restored.
During its hiatus, people had put up real bananas and inflatable bananas, Lovett said, in addition to a wooden banana her friend carved with a chainsaw. Lovett said she took the banana lookalikes down after a few days.
She said everyone she spoke to was happy the banana was back.
'It felt like the banana crisis was sort of calming down,' she said.
'We said that we loved it, and somebody brought it back,' she said.
Amanda Gokee can be reached at
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Under Trump's Crackdown, a New Crop of Immigrant Rights Groups Rises
The call came into the hotline one afternoon in March: A group of officers, masked and in plainclothes, were taking away a young woman in a hijab. ''Someone is being kidnapped!'' the caller said to Danny Timpona, the operator who answered the phone. His group, the LUCE Immigrant Justice Network of Massachusetts, had been preparing for such a moment. Within minutes, Mr. Timpona sent out volunteers to verify the report in Somerville, a suburb northwest of Boston. When they arrived to empty streets, they began knocking on doors, looking for anyone who could help them piece together what occurred. One neighbor offered footage from a home security camera. The video, which has since racked up millions of views, captured agents from the Department of Homeland Security surrounding Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish citizen and doctoral student at Tufts University who spent the next six weeks in detention. It gave the nation one of the earliest scenes of the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration. A crop of grass-roots immigrant rights networks like Mr. Timpona's has been rising across the country to try to halt President Trump's agenda of mass deportation. They aimto quickly corroborate the presence of immigration officers. They document apprehensions that might otherwise go unnoticed. And they spread the word on social media about people being detained. These groups have recently been most visible in Los Angeles, where an immigration raid at a clothing wholesaler prompted a rapid response from activists who confronted federal agents. Days of protests followed. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Fox News
11 hours ago
- Fox News
Judge backs Trump admin's deportation push for 8 illegal migrants after another judge blocks it
Eight migrants were denied a request by a Massachusetts federal judge on Friday to have their deportation to South Sudan halted. Justice Department lawyers said the men were scheduled to be flown to South Sudan on Friday at 7:00 pm ET after two courts considered their emergency request on July 4, a day when courts would otherwise be closed, Reuters reported. The migrants, who are from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Burma, Sudan and Vietnam, filed new claims on Thursday after the U.S. Supreme Court clarified that Boston federal Judge Brian Murphy couldn't require the Department of Homeland Security to hold them. Also on Friday, federal Judge Randolph Moss in Washington paused the Trump administration's efforts to deport the eight migrants to South Sudan, the latest case testing the legality of the Trump administration's push to ship illegal immigrants to third countries. Moss had briefly halted the deportation after lawyers for the migrants filed the new claims in his court and sent the case to Boston, where Murphy denied the claim. The eight men argued their deportations to South Sudan would violate the Constitution, which prohibits "cruel and unusual" punishment, Reuters reported. They have been convicted of various crimes, with four of them convicted of murder, the Department of Homeland Security has said. They were detained for six weeks on a military base in Djibouti instead of being brought back to the United States. On Thursday, the migrants filed new claims after the Supreme Court said that a federal judge in Boston could no longer require the Department of Homeland Security to hold them, Reuters reported. Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House. During Friday's hearing with Moss, a government lawyer argued that court orders halting agreed-upon deportations pose a serious problem for U.S. diplomatic relations and would make foreign countries less likely to accept transfers of migrants in the future. The case is the latest development over the legality of the Trump administration's campaign to deter immigration by shipping migrants to locations other than their countries of origin pursuant to deals with other countries, according to Reuters. "It seems to me almost self-evident that the United States government cannot take human beings and send them to circumstances in which their physical well-being is at risk simply either to punish them or send a signal to others," Moss said during the hearing.
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Yahoo
Man who sued over delay in parole board hearings is up for parole board hearing this week
For more than 25 years, a Massachusetts man has remained in prison for the murder of a cab driver. But since then, he has not been part of a fight or displayed any acts of aggression. Allen Alston is preparing to plead his case to the parole board this week — a long-awaited and fought-for opportunity for freedom. Alston was part of a group of seven men who sued the Massachusetts Parole Board, Gov. Maura Healey and others over a delay in conducting parole hearings for people who were unconstitutionally sentenced to life in prison without the possibly of parole. Read more: Advocates push for 'full conversation' on life without parole sentences In a 4-3 Supreme Judicial Court decision issued Jan. 11, 2024, emerging adults between the ages of 18-20 cannot be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The high court ruled life sentences for defendants within that age group are unconstitutional and amount to 'cruel and unusual punishment.' Due to the decision, Alston, who was 19 at the time of the murder, was allowed to go in front of the parole board for the first time. But he was forced to continue waiting as the parole board worked to schedule hearings for about 127 other people who became parole-eligible as a matter of the law. Six months after the decision, the parole board sent a letter stating it had planned 'to start scheduling hearings in September as time permits.' Read more: Worcester man who killed and burned woman on rooftop asks for parole 'We hope you will be understanding and patient as this is an unprecedented amount of additional cases to add to the Parole Board's calendar,' the letter stated. More than a year later, 'not one Plaintiff has had a parole hearing or even had their hearing scheduled,' the lawsuit stated. Robert Francis, 78, one of the men involved in the lawsuit, was told in November 2024 that with the new law he was eligible for parole back in 2010 and that his hearing would be scheduled. It was scheduled for Dec. 18, 2024. On April 8, he was granted parole. 'Francis has had an extraordinarily positive adjustment throughout his incarceration, with no disciplinary reports, and has held positions of great trust. He has invested in self-development and maintains a significant support system,' the parole board's decision read. But others involved in the lawsuit had to continue waiting for their hearings. Read more: Mass man who thought he'd never leave prison finally admits his crime — and may go home Alston's hearing is set for Wednesday morning. Tanzerlus Anderson and Samuel Smith's first hearing aren't scheduled until August — nearly two years after the decision. It is unclear when Jabrai Copney, Lewis Franklin or Christopher Middlemiss will have their hearings. The lawsuit was dismissed at the end of May. But that decision has since been appealed. Then Executive Office of Public Safety and Security and Attorney General's office did not comment on the lawsuit. On Wednesday, Alston will head from MCI Shirley to face the parole board in Natick. During the hearing, he will tell the board why he is ready for parole, answer its questions and hear from those for and against his release. Then he will head back to MCI Shirley, where he will likely have to wait months for a decision. Mass. man spent 32 years in prison claiming innocence. He hoped parole would free him Parole denied for Mass. man who raped 14-year-old he met at library After serving time for 1992 Tasty Chicken killing, paroled man detained by ICE Man convicted of fatal shooting at Mattapan ice cream parlor in 1990 gets parole 'Yes, I stabbed him': Woman paroled after fatal Christmas week stabbing amid abuse claims Read the original article on MassLive.
