Just in Time for Big Game, UCLA Bear Gets New Paint Job

After three incident-free years, the UCLA bear was attacked last night, according to the UCLA Newsroom. Vandals ripped open the canvas enclosure protecting the bear (an older photo showing the enclosure is on the right) and splashed it with oil-based paint (hard to remove, apparently). Leroy Sisneros, director of maintenance and alterations for Facilities Management tells UCLA: "This probably ranks as one of the more egregious forms of vandalism of the bear that we've seen." The vandalism likely has to do with this Saturday's UCLA–USC game. A little more about the history of the bear: "In 1984, "The Bruin," a gift from the UCLA Alumni Association, was unveiled before a crowd of nearly 1,000 alumni celebrating the association's first half-century. Measuring 10 feet long, 6 feet wide, 3 feet across and weighing more than 2 tons, the statue was billed at that time as the largest bear sculpture in the United States." Meanwhile, whatever kid damaged the bear is going to spend his/her Thanksgiving dinner completely paranoid: The act has been deemed a felony because the damage to the bear costs more than $400. Bear via UCLA newsroom
· Bruin statue damaged by vandals [UCLA Newsroom]