May 11, 2023

Minutes after Wayne Porter pulled into his sculpture park west of Sioux Falls, he knew someone else had visited in the off-season.

The artist, who lives in St. Lawrence, South Dakota, discovered someone had taken a power saw and cut off the heads of four pieces that he named the Guardians. Once removed, the heads had been stolen, apparently as souvenirs.

In addition, the intruders used red spray paint to spray messages on a piece called The Bull, one of the sculptures most easily seen from Interstate 90. Metal sculptures named the Monks also were damaged, and another piece depicting Porter’s brother on a horse was spray-painted before the canister apparently ran dry.

“Jesus Christ!” and “Satan is defeated” are two of the messages left behind.

Porter is unsure whether the vandals truly thought his pieces had some satanic significance. Even if they did believe that, he said, they would be wrong. The Bull, he pointed out, is based on the Brahman bulls he saw while growing up in ranch country, and he gave it an early Egyptian twist. The Brahman bull has never been a sign of the devil, he said.

“These people have no idea who Jesus Christ is, and they probably need someone praying for them,” he sighed, worn out from a day spent making a 300-mile round-trip from his home to the park, which he intended to prepare for its spring opening.

Porter contacted the McCook County Sheriff’s Office in Salem to report the vandalism. Anyone with information is asked to call 1-605-425-276.

A family member has watched the video recorded by a camera Porter had installed at the park. Based on that, he suspects the crime took place in mid-April. The road to the park was impassable for much of the winter. Two vehicles drove down the road during that period. One has been cleared.

Porter cannot put a value on the damaged pieces. In part, that’s because he doesn’t sell any of his work. Instead, he put it on display. He moved Porter Sculpture Park to its current location in 2000.

“I’m probably the only person in America who does it like this, monetizes a visionary art environment,” Porter said. “Most people sell their work and get money from it. That’s a different skill.”

Porter learned to weld in his father’s blacksmith shop in St. Lawrence. He raised sheep for several years after graduating from South Dakota State University with majors in political science and history, working on his art in his off hours. He never has taken an art class.

According to his biography, his largest sculpture is made of railroad tracks welded together, stands 60 feet tall and weighs more than 25 tons. The sculpture park has more than 50 pieces that Porter describes as “majestic, whimsical, thought provoking,” displaying the influences of the South Dakota prairie and his own wit and diverse interests.

RoadsideAmerica.com describes Porter Sculpture Park’s The Bull as a landmark on Interstate 90. The park rates 4.5 stars on Tripadvisor.

Most of Porter’s pieces are made of scrap and found metal. His genres have varied over the years. He focused on dragons for several years before creating The Bull in the late 1990s.

Even if the heads are found, Porter doubts the Guardians will return to their posts near The Bull.

“I’m not going to go retro,” he said. “I’m just moving on.”

After he posted pictures of the vandalism on Facebook, Porter received several offers of support. A Sioux Falls man has offered to power-wash The Bull to see if the graffiti can be removed that way. Porter has accepted his offer, and work will be done this weekend.

“Most people are empathetic,” Porter said. “You can’t let this type of thing make you give up on the idea of humanity. We have to deal with them, but we still have to trust people.”

Porter said Thursday he is offering a $1,000 reward for the return of the Guardian heads.