Giant Elon Musk bust vandalized in South Texas

SOUTH TEXAS – The San Antonio Express-News reports vandals have damaged the giant Elon Musk bust near SpaceX’s Starbase facility in South Texas amid growing backlash against the billionaire. The bronze-colored statue of the tech mogul-turned-Trump adviser was damaged sometime before Saturday morning, according to its owners. The vandalism follows a series of attacks on Tesla dealerships across the globe in protest of Musk and his federal cost cutting agency, the Department of Government Efficiency. “Some cowards who hate Elon Musk tried to damage the statue,” said the French tech entrepreneur behind the installation who prefers to be identified only as “Louis.”

The attackers gouged out chunks under Musk’s eye and chin and tore off strips of the statue’s plastic exterior. Constructed of foam with a hard plastic shell, the 8-foot-tall bust stands atop a 4-foot concrete base. It sits in an open field along Texas 4 and raised questions last year when its creators towed it across South Texas behind a Tesla Cybertruck. “They cut it and took four or five pieces, part of the eyes, so they destroyed it,” said Eleazar Villafranca, owner of the land where the bust sits. “I put a tarp to cover it so it doesn’t look too bad, but now a lot of people are coming to take pictures of the tarp — lots of people.” A neighboring landowner notified the Cameron County sheriff, he said. As for repairing Musk’s broken face, Villafranca said they’re getting estimates from the Utah-based makers of the statue. It’s the second incident of Musk-related vandalism in the Rio Grande Valley since someone graffitied a Brownsville mural of the billionaire, painting an anarchy symbol and the words “Deny, Defend, Depose” on his face in February. Insurance CEO Brian Thompson was killed with ammo that had those words written on it.