BOSTON —Boston Mayor Michelle Wu admitted to joining in on a traditional Tartan Army prank by placing a traffic cone on a statue outside City Hall.
Wu copped to being responsible for the traffic cone perched on top of the statue of Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell, after signing a declaration of intent to establish a sister-city partnership between Boston and Glasgow, Scotland amid the Scottish World Cup takeover.
“I think we may see some lingering traditions from their visit, and I have to admit, I also put a cone on Bill Russell’s head outside City Hall. So, it’s been fun,” Wu said Thursday outside The Haven, a Scottish tavern.
Traffic cones have been seen on statues throughout the area in recent weeks, amid what the mayor estimates has been an influx of 50,000 rowdy Scots to the region for their two World Cup games at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro.
“The cones are pretty fun, and I think that it’s such a sense of playful, joyful surprise when you can see that happening,” Wu said. “We do need cones that need to be in the right place to stay in the right place, so we need to find additional cones for that, but it’s just a sense of joy everywhere.”
BBC reports the Scottish tradition of putting traffic cones on statues in Scotland began among late-night revelers in the 1980s, when they placed a cone on the head of the statue of Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington.
Wellesley is famous for defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and later becoming prime minister. His statue, featuring Wellesley astride his favorite horse, was erected in Glasgow in 1844.
Despite early attempts by local politicians and police to stop the “vandalism,” the prank continued, and now every time a traffic cone is removed from the duke’s head, a new one is placed on the statue within days, BBC reported.
The Scots have now brought the tradition to Boston, amid their other antics that have endeared them to the locals and kept city bars busy.
“We wish we could keep you all forever,” Wu said of the Tartan Army when signing the sister-city declaration of intent. “This kind of agreement will make sure that you always see Boston as a home base. We want you to come back again and again and again.”