The report for theft remains ‘normal’. Vaart in Assen offered to withdraw it if the statue was returned to Assen before Christmas. That opportunity has already passed. “And we think it is important that insurance matters and the like are arranged.”
Furthermore, Westervaarder thinks it is a “shame” that Assen had to be deprived of Van Gogh for so long. The image was intended to attract visitors to the Van Gogh exhibition and its accompanying exhibition Van Gogh City Experience, an art route through the city. “The image has been gone since December 12 and will return on January 3. That is a very long period in such a campaign. The damage is difficult to measure, but I expect that fewer people will be attracted to the Experience. Or that people who come from further away decide not to come to Assen at all.”
After the unveiling, De Oliebol board member Tim de Rooij said that the statue was not damaged. “If there is something we take with us and we have to damage something, then it is not possible for us to do it and we are not going to do it. Everything is intact,” he assured.
He thinks the declaration from the Asser business association is nothing more than normal. “If I were in their shoes, I would have done the same. But we’re not very concerned about it.”