Rónova Sitting Devil Karlovy Vary residents mostly do not want according to the survey

Karlovy Vary - The residents of Karlovy Vary expressed their opposition in a survey against the city purchasing the statue of the Sitting Devil by Jaroslav Róna. The statue, which is currently located in front of the Market Colonnade, was offered by the author to the city for 2.5 million crowns. However, the city leadership is likely to heed public opinion and reject the offer, said the Mayor of Karlovy Vary, Petr Kulhánek (KOA), today to ČTK.
"In the leadership, we decided that we would not make a decision on the offer without hints from the public. And public opinion suggests to us, and we will probably act accordingly. According to a third of the citizens, it is a pity, and I must admit that I belong to that third," said Kulhánek.
In the survey, which involved more than a thousand people, about two-thirds of respondents opposed the purchase. The relatively high price may have played a role in this. The statue is made of bronze, which in itself increases the price of the work. "It weighs half a ton. Neither transportation nor installation was free. Nor was the repeated cleaning from paints and sprays," the author wrote in a letter to the city. The original offer was for three million crowns, but Róna lowered it by half a million.
The statue was placed in the spa zone before last year's film festival and was originally intended to be here for only a year. If the city leadership truly rejects the offer to purchase the statue, the Sitting Devil will likely remain in Karlovy Vary until the end of the year. "Basically, it does not obstruct, and the colonnade administration has no problem with it. It will depend on the author," added the spokesperson for the magistrate, Jan Kopál.