The owner of an Italian family restaurant south-east of Adelaide’s CBD has been left puzzled by the sudden appearance of a fibreglass pig on his property’s roof.
Key points:
- Restaurant owner Ilario Nesci said he had “no idea” why the pig was on his roof
- He first noticed the fibreglass sculpture on Tuesday morning
- Mr Nesci said despite not knowing where it came from, he did not intend to remove the pig
Buonasera Restaurant’s owner Ilario Nesci told ABC Radio Adelaide he “definitely did not” order the pig, which was mounted on the roof of the Glen Osmond Road eatery sometime between Sunday night and Tuesday morning.
“This morning I came as usual to work, and before I start work I go for a walk,” Mr Nesci said.
“I went around Wattle Street and down Fullarton Road, and on the way back when I got to Glen Osmond Road … I just looked on the roof and saw this huge pig on my roof.
Mr Nesci said the pig, which is sculpted in a sitting position, was not thrown on the roof, and instead appeared to have been professionally mounted.
It can be seen perched on a white frame just above the restaurant’s street-front signage and is noticeable to passing motorists and pedestrians.
“It is big,” Mr Nesci said.
“If I have good memories from when we’ve made sausages and we’ve gone for pig, it would be a couple of hundred kilos [in] size.”
He said he has “no idea” why it was placed there.
The pig is similar to four well-known sculptures which have been in Adelaide’s Rundle Mall since 1999.
“It might be that they got sick of staying in Rundle Mall and they came up onto my roof,” Mr Nesci said.
But Mr Nesci discounted a theory that one of his employees may be responsible for the prank.
One ABC Radio Adelaide caller, Steve from Campbelltown, pointed out that the same building housed both an optometrist and a butcher.
He suggested the person putting the pig up might need an eye check.
Another person messaged the station, saying they had seen two people on the roof overnight.
“I saw two guys — one old, one younger — on the restaurant roof last night around 4:30 — both were smokers and I thought it was a bit strange.”
Mr Nesci spoke to police today but was told to visit a station if he wanted to make a formal report.
He said he had no intention of removing the pig.
“I’m not going to bring it down … it’s going to cost me money to bring it down,” Mr Nesci said.
“It’s there and whoever did it, it didn’t annoy me.
“Besides, the Fringe Festival is on, so you never know.”
