From: Natchez Democrat
The Turning Angel monument got her wings back this weekend with a few final touches left until the statue is whole again.
Emily Ford of Oak and Laurel Cemetery Preservation in New Orleans said she and her assistant Corey Douglas arrived in Natchez Friday and worked through the weekend to piece the statue back together.
If all goes well, the Turning Angel should be her old self again by next weekend, Ford said.
“I’ve made some mortar samples to see what is going to match her color,” Ford said Sunday after the wings were reattached with epoxy and clamps.
The mortar will be used to seal off and protect the cracks where Angel’s wings broke off when the statue was toppled in an act of vandalism in June.
Police arrested Austin Petty, 20, of Crosby soon after the incident. Petty reportedly climbed onto the statue at night and rocked it back and forth when it fell over onto its wings.
“With where her center of gravity is, the guy is lucky he wasn’t seriously hurt,” Ford said the statue that is estimated to weigh approximately 2,000 pounds. “She could easily have fallen the other way and landed on top of him.”
Ford said the repair process has gone smoothly so far with no major hiccups.
They began drilling pinholes to secure the pieces of the Angel’s wings back in place on Saturday, working from 7 a.m. until noon to beat the heat.
The process is tricky because a piece of the statue could break during the drilling, Ford said.
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