He wanted his circular sculpture representing the Earth to have this message: That all people of all cultures have a place there. So, he made an opening on one end to allow any and all to walk in and sit on the bench inside this "Earth."

Sit. Not spray.

But it was spray paint he found when he - David Black Cloud, 27, the sculpture's designer and an art student at United Tribes Technical College - arrived in Pioneer Park on Friday morning. He was with his art instructor, Wayne Pruse, to do the last bit of finishing work it needed before the new sculpture's Sept. 5 dedication.

All that the $15,000 sculpture needed was a coating of sealant.

Instead, Black Cloud was spending part of Friday morning standing in front of it, kind of in shock.

"Why would anyone do it?"he asked. "If there's a message, Ican't see it. There are a lot of unanswered questions."

UTTC students have designed and constructed four statues for the city's parks, with two more to go - paid for with some grant money, but mainly park district money, Steve Neu, director of Bismarck Parks and Recreation District, said Friday.

This is the second time a UTTC statue has been vandalized before its dedication.

Last year's artwork in Steamboat Park featured a giant chrome-covered gazing ball that was pushed from its base the day before its unveiling - and on the ball, words had been written with a marker:"I didn't get my check this month. How about you? …. "

On the new statue, words and symbols and letters in various colors were sprayed on much of its interior, which is about 20 feet in diameter and 9 feet high at its highest point.

Some of what was written on the statue:"Say it ain't so,"and "You stoled was left of sky."

Bismarck Police Lt. Dan Donlin said Friday that a walker or jogger on a path in the park noticed the grafitti Friday morning and called police at 8:57. Donlin said a police officer on the scene estimated the damage to be at about $300.

Black Cloud said construction of the statue started in about May.

"Countless hours,"Pruse said, about the time put in by the four students who constructed it - Black Cloud, John Clifford, Bethany Drapeau and Martha Garreau.

Two days ago, the students finished painting the statue. It was sitting vulnerable for the recommended 48 hours to allow the paint to dry and set before the sealant was put on.

Neu said that about every week there is vandalism in the park system. A recent incident involved a vandal or vandals putting soap into the park district's water fountains.

Neu said the city still has a fountain in Keelboat Park and a fountain next to the park district's office on Front Avenue. But no longer is there a third fountain - the one that once was in the Sons of Norway Park near Bismarck Expressway - because of the frequent soap dumpings by vandals, he said.

"We couldn't get the soap out of it," he said.

Neu said other ongoing problems include vandals breaking toilets, dumping garbage cans and defecating on the bathroom floors, or spray painting various things such as the bathroom at Kiwanis Park. Lattice work at Sleepy Hollow Park has been torn down in the past, and 15 trees were destroyed last year along Edwards Boulevard.

Neu said vandalism has been ongoing for years and the cost of dealing with it, repainting and repairing, is just included in the park district's general operation fund. So he couldn't break it out and give a specific dollar figure, he said Friday.

Black Cloud said he isn't angry.

"I don't want to walk around angry,"he said. "I'm confused mainly, shocked and confused."

The 3 p.m. Sept. 5 dedication at Pioneer Park will happen whether the statue is ready or not, Pruse said.

(Reach reporter Virginia Grantier at 250-8254 or at virginia.grantier@;bismarcktribune.com)