Plastic cow stolen, feared drowned in Prague art attack

PRAGUE (AFP) - A plastic cow has been stolen and is feared drowned in the latest attack on an open-air art exhibition in Prague featuring more than 200 brightly coloured life-size cows, the event's spokesman said.

So far vandals have attacked 50 of the CowParade exhibition's 214 beasts dotted around central Prague, causing damage of around 1 million koruna (31,000 euros, 38,000 dollars).

Cibulakova, a two-metre (6.6-foot) long, 1.5 metre high and 50 kilo (110-pound) white cow decorated in the blue Cibulak pattern that adorns the popular crockery found in most Czech households, vanished from Jan Palach Square on Monday.

"We don't know if she was stolen or whether she was thrown into the river and sank," Cowparade spokesman Martin Racman told AFP.

"So far a quarter of our exhibits have been damaged whereas only one exhibit was damaged in the CowParade in Brussels last year," Racman said, adding that he believed alcohol played a big role in the problem.

The exhibition featuring cows decorated by Czech artists opened in Prague on June 1, making the Czech capital the latest in a line of almost 20 cities to host the event since it was first staged in Zurich.