ROYAL OAK, Mich. – Royal Oak police are trying to figure out who destroyed a very popular piano that sits in the middle of Downtown Royal Oak.
Residents said it’s hard to walk by the piano without at least hitting a note or playing a song.
“You never know how many people play music in our society by them just walking down the street, but if you put a piano out, you see tons and tons of people that have musical skills,” said Jason Gittinger, of the Royal Oak Commission for the Arts.
Gittinger said that’s the point of the old piano. But he said vandals didn't appreciate the idea behind the instrument.
“Apparently, somebody took it upon themselves to sabotage this piano and make it unplayable by gluing all of the keys,” Gittinger said.
All of the white keys are glued stuck, leaving only the black keys to play. Even the bench is gone.
Gittinger said officials tried to save the piano, but they're left with just memories.
“That’s the challenging part, is that some people have left their mark on this piano, and that’s going to have to go in the garbage, which is horrible,” Gittinger said. “The good part is we are not short of people wanting to donate pianos to us on the streets, so we’ll have another piano."