Research Guru / Moderator
Posted:
May 10, 2008, 3:19 PM
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SpongeBob paint job no joke to U.S. Forest Service
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SpongeBob SquarePants is cute... but not when his 10-foot image is painted onto the remains of a circa-1914 Colorado cabin.
At least not to United States Forest Service officials.
"I didn't chuckle," Forest Service archeologist Al Kane told the Colorado Springs Gazette. "I kind of started crying."
Officials view the SpongeBob painting on a crumbling chimney in the middle of the woods as symptomatic of growing vandalism in Pike National Forest. They're are asking the public to help them find the artist -- or artists -- responsible.
"For whatever reason, we're seeing an increase in graffiti and tagging activity," Forest Service law enforcement officer Tom Healy said in Monument, Colorado.
The SpongeBob site is what's left of a cabin built around 1914 near the Monument Fire Center, off Mount Herman Road in the foothills west of Monument. At the time, the area was the Forest Service's tree nursery for the Rocky Mountain region.
The manager used the cabin as a home until it was abandoned in the 1930s. By 1960, the agency moved its tree nursery to Nebraska, Kane said.
Until SpongeBob was painted on, the abandoned cabin was indistinguishable from any other. The chimney, debris and foundation are all that's left.
"This building is a historic building, even though it may not look like much more than concrete walls," Kane said. "We would consider anything that's associated with the Monument Fire Center and the old nursery as historically significant."
According to Healy, removing the paint this summer will cost several thousand dollars. Officials plan to erect signs stating the historic importance of the site.
Officials rely on forest users to help them solve and prevent such incidents by reporting them to the nearest Forest Service office or local law enforcement, Healy said.
Officials spoke about the latest incident Thursday at the Forest Service's annual "Monument Media Day."
The unknown SpongeBob artist remains just that -- the unknown artist. Officials have no leads.
But whoever painted the yellow guy took a long time and knew to bring four colors of paint, officials said. The nearest road is a short walk away.
What sort of person paints a 10-foot SpongeBob SquarePants in the middle of nowhere?
"I don't know enough about them to know," Healy replied. "Apparently, they are SpongeBob fanatics."
Pikes Peak District ranger Brent Botts meets his match in the form of a historic cabin defaced with SpongeBob's image.
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"Oh boy." -- Allan Sherman
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Supervising Animator
Posted:
May 10, 2008, 4:07 PM
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Re: SpongeBob paint job no joke to U.S. Forest Service
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That image didn't look good to me either. 
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Thank God for kids who love obscure things-Lee Hazelwood (1929-2007)
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Supervising Animator / Contributor
Posted:
May 10, 2008, 4:16 PM
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Re: SpongeBob paint job no joke to U.S. Forest Ser
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SpongeBob? That looks more like Billy The Mountain. And I think that's Ethel growing off of his shoulder.
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"If it's hot, don't sit on it." —NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg
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Directing Animator / Contributor
Posted:
May 11, 2008, 6:59 AM
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Re: SpongeBob paint job no joke to U.S. Forest Ser
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A bad likeness.
Yet another act of SpongeBob doing no good in today's world! 
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"Being a genius certainly has its advantages."
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Inbetweener
Posted:
May 11, 2008, 10:33 AM
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Re: SpongeBob paint job no joke to U.S. Forest Service
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And remember: Only you can prevent cabin vandalisim.
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"My body may belong to you, but my soul belongs to Warner Bros."
-Uncle Tom, "Uncle Tom's Bungalow" (1937)
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Directing Animator
Posted:
May 11, 2008, 1:21 PM
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Re: SpongeBob paint job no joke to U.S. Forest Service
[In reply to]
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Who knows what will happen next; maybe a mysterious, fire-proof metal box will turn up; containing homo-erotic correspondence between SpongeBob and novelist John Cheever! 
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"I'd like to cover you with furs and automobiles!"
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