The owner of northwest Indiana fireworks store is offering a $350 reward to find out who decapitated a 35-foot-tall American eagle balloon that has drawn shoppers to his store for four years.
"Who would desecrate a symbol of the country?" asked Tom O'Connor, owner of Boomtown USA Fireworks. He told the Post-Tribune that the vandals took the time to unstitch the giant balloon outside his store in Hobart, Ind.
"If it was just vandals who used a razor to destroy it, well, OK. If was the competition who just wanted to steal it, OK. But to take the head off a 150-pound balloon, that's wild," O'Connor said.
The inflatable eagle, which O'Connor named Herman, cost about $3,500 and was perched on a 12-foot-wide trailer parked in front of Boomtown.
A local tent and awning company has offered to stitch up Herman's torso and inflate it with a sign reading: "Where's My Head?" O'Connor said.
Boomtown has not reported the incident to police, the Post-Tribune reported.
