Luleå,Sweden – A bronze sculpture by Swedish artist mats Wikström,depicting a squirrel performing a Nazi salute,has been stolen from its display location in Luleå’s stadsparken. The theft, discovered on May 16, 2024, marks the second time a sculpture from Wikström’s controversial “healing squirrel” series has been targeted.
The artwork, titled “Squirrel Hee,” was installed in the park in early May 2024 as part of a larger exhibition curated by the Luleå municipality. The sculpture, purchased for 20,000 Swedish krona (approximately $1,850 USD), is intended to provoke discussion about the allure of destructive ideologies. Wikström began creating the “healing squirrel” sculptures two decades ago, with the first piece completed in 2004.
This isn’t the first instance of theft within the series. In 2022, a similar sculpture was stolen from Kulturens Hus in Luleå but was subsequently recovered. Police are currently investigating the latest theft, but no suspects have been identified.
Wikström described an initial reluctance to create the first sculpture, stating he experienced anxiety about the concept. “When I did the first squirrel, I got stomach ache. I thought, ‘I can’t do this’. But in the end I allowed it. The squirrel became a thinker. An innocent animal that does a human action, it is strange. But it’s just as damn strange that people do,” he explained.
The Luleå municipality has expressed its commitment to artistic freedom and the importance of confronting challenging themes.A spokesperson for the municipality stated that the artwork’s value lies in its ability to spark conversation and encourage critical thinking,rather than its monetary worth. “The artwork questions the human in joining destructive ideologies – with the help of the absurd grip that a squirrel hee. It is a question to the viewer. Our mission is not to avoid uncomfortable themes, but to promote conversations, complexity and contemporary artistic expression,” they said.
