Man accused of vandalizing ‘Bewitched’ statue in Salem arrested and charged, police say

A Massachusetts man was arrested after being accused of vandalizing a famous statue in the city of Salem, news outlets report.

The statue, which pays homage to the 1960s sitcom “Bewitched,” is made to look like actress Elizabeth Montgomery, who played the lead role. Her character, Samantha Stephens, was a witch who tried to live a normal married life with her husband, according to Atlas Obscura.

The show filmed several episodes in Salem, NBC Boston reported. The statue shows Montgomery’s character riding a broom next to the moon.

The iconic statue was found covered in bright red paint on June 6, Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll tweeted.

Witnesses told police that someone was spray-painting the statue around 5 p.m. that day, The Associated Press reported. Soon after, police arrested a 32-year-old man in connection with the incident, the outlet reported.

The man was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and felony defacing of property, NBC Boston reported.

The man was held on a $500 bail, according to the AP. His attorney told the outlet that he had been living in a shelter for two weeks after the end of his marriage and that he was looking for a new job.

Driscoll said in a Tweet she was “disappointed” to hear about the incident, but that the city is working on getting the statue cleaned up “as fast as a twitch of Samantha’s nose.”

In lieu of a magic wand, Montgomery’s character Samantha twitches her nose to cast spells, according to Showbiz Cheat Sheet.

The city of Salem is known for the witch trials that took place in colonial Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693, according to the Smithsonian Magazine. During that time, more than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft, and 20 people were executed. The colony later “admitted the trials were a mistake and compensated the families of those convicted,” the magazine said.

Most of the people executed for allegations of witchcraft in the U.S. and Europe from the 1300s through the 1600s were women, according to the Smithsonian Magazine.

The statue of the famous ”Bewitched” character was introduced in Salem in 2005 amid concerns from some that it would trivialize the city’s history, according to the AP.

This story was originally published June 7, 2022 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Man accused of vandalizing ‘Bewitched’ statue in Salem arrested and charged, police say."