Authorities in Savannah, Georgia, said they are treating the matter as a trespassing incident: "Harming our historic monuments ... is no laughing matter."
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City officials in Savannah, Georgia, are asking for the public's help to catch a prankster after a marble monument honoring a Revolutionary War general was vandalized last week with a set of googly, cartoonish eyes stuck to his bronze face.
After the apparent practical joke on the statue of Gen. Nathanael Greene was first reported to police Thursday, authorities said they are treating the matter as trespassing.
"Honestly, it is a situation we need to look into because we don't want people to go around defacing things," Savannah police spokeswoman Keturah Greene, no relation to the general, said Monday. "We don't want it to get out of hand."
In a Facebook post last week, the city of Savannah warned that they would find the culprit — and asked people to take it seriously.
"Who did this?! Someone placed googly eyes on our historic #NathanaelGreene statue in #JohnsonSquare. It may look funny but harming our historic monuments and public property is no laughing matter, in fact, it's a crime. We are hoping to find the person responsible!"
Greene's ties to Savannah span from after the American Revolution when the state of Georgia granted him the Mulberry Grove Plantation in honor of his service. The general later died near the city on June 19, 1786.
Michelle Gavin, a city spokeswoman, told NBC News that the eyes have since been removed and there was no harm done to the statue.
She added that while nothing similar has been done to any other sculptures in the area before, the city has filed a police report.
Despite the city's earlier plea, Facebook users poked fun at the incident, writing the statue was "vandaleyesed."