The cover of the community piano in Bar Harbor’s gazebo was nailed shut this week after it was vandalized.
Police Chief David Kerns said a passerby reported the damage on June 10, but investigators are still trying to determine when it was last seen undamaged.
“It was heartbreaking,” said J’amie Ward, a musician and artist who can often be seen performing in town. She played a key role in getting the community-use piano into the gazebo.
“Someone sat there and tore that keyboard to bits, why?!” Ward said, questioning whether the action was personally directed at her.
Much like Little Free Libraries, which are informal lending libraries allowing people to take or donate books, public-use pianos are there for anyone to play.
This was the second community piano at the location.
The Bar Harbor Congregational Church set up the first community piano, but Ward said it wasn’t maintained and was out of tune after sitting outside. She said she noticed that a lot of people seemed to want to play it, so her partner, River Francis, tuned it.
“But it was vandalized repeatedly once we started maintaining it,” said Ward.
Ward said she acquired the second piano, spent the tips she earned playing music on building a dolly for it and was in the middle of refurbishing the piano when it was damaged.
She said she discovered the damage one morning when she was planning to sand down the piano to paint it.
Ward and Francis hope to repair the current piano so that it’s functional again or find another piano to use as a community instrument.
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