UK cathedral moves statue to avoid texting mishaps

[February 24, 2016]  By Anjali Athavaley
 
 NEW YORK (Reuters) - A British cathedral sought to reassure visitors on Monday that they could still view a massive sculpture following a Facebook post by the statue's creator saying the church had moved it because people kept bumping into it while texting.

The Salisbury Cathedral, located about 90 miles outside of London, said in a tweet on Monday under the Twitter handle @SalisburyCath: "Don't worry, you can still see 'The Kiss' at the Cathedral. We've moved the sculpture onto the lawn #Relationships."

"The Kiss" is a 20-foot sculpture of clasping hands by artist Sophie Ryder. On Tuesday, Ryder posted a video on Facebook of a crane moving the statue, with the comment "We had to move 'the kiss' because people were walking through texting and said they bumped their heads! Oh well!!"

The Cathedral did not respond immediately to a Reuters request for comment on why it moved the sculpture.

Several social media users poked fun at the statue's relocation to the cathedral lawn. Visitors were originally meant to follow a path through the clasped hands.

GrumpyGitRant (@GRumpGitRant) said in a tweet on Monday: "It's safe now to visit #salisbury cathedral. The kiss statue better known as the #claspedhands is no longer a danger."

"I think it is crazy it was moved," wrote Karin Muir on Ryder's Facebook page. "Maybe if more people bumped their heads whilst walking and texting, they'd stop doing it sooner."

(Reporting by Anjali Athavaley; Editing by Dan Grebler)

[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.