Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Two broken, orange sets of toes are all that remain on the pedestal of this Hokie Bird statue that was painted with computer chips and other digital designs. Police found the snapped-off body of the bird nearby on Thursday.

BLACKSBURG -- One was found with its body snapped off its orange feet and tossed aside; the other with a hole in its chest where it had apparently been punched.

Two more of Blacksburg's 5-foot-tall, fancifully decorated Hokie Bird statues were vandalized overnight Wednesday, and a $1,000 reward is being offered for information.

The targets were "eLearning Gobbler," formerly on display at the town's farmer's market, and "Bloom N' the Burg," which stands in front of optometrist Steve Jacobs' office at 620 N. Main St.

The two fiberglass statues, part of a fundraiser and public art campaign by the Blacksburg Partnership, were the latest to be vandalized since the first bird was displayed in February.

They join "Hokie Hiker," which was broken off its pedestal at the head of the Huckleberry Trail in July and found farther down the trail; "A Bird You Can Bank On," which was removed from its pedestal in front of First National Bank on North Main Street and later found at the Deercroft housing development; and "Blacksburg -- Something for Everyone," whose wooden hat, shaped like Virginia Tech's Burruss Hall, was stolen from atop the statue in front of National Bank on South Main Street.

Several other birds have sustained minor vandalism:

• The bells on the feet of "Carnival of the Mind" in front of Tech Bookstore keep disappearing;

• Many of the keys glued onto "Ho-Key Play" at the farmer's market have been pried off;

• "Holstein Hokie" at Foxridge Apartments was cracked when someone apparently pulled on it;

• The fake money clutched by "Banker Bird" at Kent Square has been picked at so much it's impossible to tell the denomination of one of the bills; and

• The Corps of Cadets hat was stolen off "That I May Serve" near Virginia Tech's Schultz Dining Hall.

Some of the birds have been moved indoors. After the bolts that held "A Bird You Can Bank On" to its base were cleanly removed last month, the partnership changed the way the outdoor birds were installed to anchor them more securely.

But the new measures didn't help "eLearning Gobbler," which was "just broken off its base and thrown down," said Janet Johnson, chairwoman of the Gobble de Art project that is placing 75 of the statues downtown.

Blacksburg police found the bird's body -- painted with computer chips, compact discs and a keyboard -- tossed aside in the wee morning hours Thursday, spokesman Lt. Joe Davis said.

In addition to the damaged feet, Johnson said, the bird's head is cracked.

"That's just about the lowest, the worst kind of vandalism," she said.

Because of the way the bird was broken, it's unclear whether it can be fixed, she said. She plans to have a fiberglass expert look over it and "Bloom N' the Burg."

"It appears they took some kind of instrument and struck it across the chest," she said of "Bloom N' the Burg," which is painted with flowers and had several artificial sunflower petals sticking out of its head.

All but two of the petals have been broken off and the bird has a huge crack across its chest.

Johnson said the Blacksburg Partnership is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible for damaging the birds.

Many of the Hokie Bird statues have been sold for $7,500 each. "Bloom N' the Burg" and "eLearning Gobbler" had not yet been bought, but had been sponsored for $2,500 each. Jacobs' office sponsored "Bloom N' the Burg; the Blacksburg Partnership sponsored "eLearning Gobbler."

The statues that haven't been sold will be auctioned off in November.