The BBC has confirmed it will cost £89,000 to erect a glass screen in front of the Prospero and Ariel statue at Broadcasting House.
Prospero is shown sending Ariel out into the world. When the statue was commissioned, Ariel - as the spirit of the air - was seen as an appropriate symbol for the new dawn of broadcasting.
As mentioned in our earlier article, the controversial carving, created by paedophile sculpter Eric Gill, has been attacked twice in the last two years.
In order to deter further attacks the BBC plans on erecting a 13 ft by 9 ft protective glass screen.
The £89,000 price tag, which is the equivalent of 525 TV licence fees, includes the cost of the screen, fixings, scaffolding, licensing and labour.
According to the BBC the statue is an important feature of the facade of the Grade II listed building.
It adds that it does not condone the views or actions of Eric Gill, who sexually abused his adolescent daughters, had an incestuous relationship with his sister and performed sexual experiments on his dog.
Gill died in 1940. If he'd lived a while longer, he would have been the ideal host for a 1970s/80s BBC One light entertainment programme.
Credit to WhatDoTheyKnow.com user A. Willmore for obtaining this information.
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