‘Offensive’ statue gets holiday themed makeover

More on the background of the phallic Amherstburg ‘bunny’ statue and how it came to be.

We now know the story behind a controversial statue in front of a home in Amherstburg.

The statue was the source of neighbour complaints, so the homeowner gave it a new look - dressing it up for Easter.

The phallic symbol started as a joke between Luke Parlette and his brothers.

For Christmas one year, Parlette sent his brothers small penis statues.

Then this summer, his oldest brothers was pouring a cement pad and had some left over.

Parlette’s Christmas present this year was the four-foot tall sculpture, which he propped up in his front yard in December.

Parlette said no one has ever told him they found it offensive, and he has gotten a lot of laughs and positive comments

“I know a lot of people had good laugh over it … never meant to offend anybody. Nobody has knocked on my door, nobody has called me. Maybe if someone had come up and said, ‘Hey do you mind moving it to your backyard,’ I probably would have,” said Parlette.