Melton’s renowned sleeping horse sculpture has been moved back to its owner’s backyard.
Melton council removed the sculpture last week from next to the visitor information centre on High Street because it showed signs of deterioration from weather, insect infestation and wood rot.
The extent of the damage was discovered when council workers checked the viability of moving it to Thoroughbred Park.
Cr Bob Turner said the council had planned on relocating the artwork, which was cut from a 500-year-old river red gum tree, as part of a revamp of the town centre’s streetscape.
At the request of the sculpture’s artist, Ruth Marnie, the sleeping horse was returned to her property to rest beneath another red gum tree she grew from local indigenous seed.
“Over the years, I have enjoyed watching families interact with the piece,” she said.
“I’ve appreciated that council encouraged the public to do so, so I added rubberised soft fall beneath the work, which has inspired people to climb and sit on the horse’s back.”
The council has no plans to replace the sculpture at the visitor information centre and is hoping to landscape the area.
Public art will be installed elsewhere as part of the courthouse precinct’s redevelopment.
