Not the way to celebrate Australia Day
 

URL:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070125...ralia_gnomes_dc

Text:
Gnome, gnome on derange. Thu Jan 25, 8:48 AM ET


SYDNEY, Jan 25 (Reuters Life!) - It's being called the "Gnomesville Massacre" and emergency workers in Western Australia are offering a reward for the capture of vandals who smashed their way through a local tourist attraction.

An unknown number of attackers lopped off the heads or smashed several dozen of the pot-bellied statues this week at Gnomesville, a collection of more than a 1,000 colorful characters deep in a forest south of Perth.

"We are incensed by the damage done to the gnomes and willing to pay a reward to catch the culprits," State Emergency Service Volunteer Association President Phillip Petersen told Reuters.

Six orange-colored gnomes depicting emergency workers were among those destroyed, Petersen said, adding the reward was A$500 ($390).

The population of Gnomesville has grown from a handful of statues placed covertly in the forest a few years ago, making it a popular stop off for tour buses visiting nearby vineyards.

:curse:

If it was in the US, I'd guess that it was someone fed up with the stupid Travelocity "Roaming Gnome" commercials...I wouldn't wanna assume that they have those in Oz...

Some peoples kids!! :spank:

bastages

What are the penalties for gnomocide in Australia? Not harsh enough, I'll bet...

I hope they received an ignome-inious punishment

They should be thrown off de-wharf or perhaps exiled to Nome.

Positively unAustralian.

Can't believe I'm actually going to restrain from adding my twisted two-cents worth. I think Scotz, osuche and OF have summed it up pretty well thus far. :rofl: