Norway is known for many things—none of them coming to mind right now—but perhaps most of all its magnificent rock formations, which look great on Instagram. Unfortunately, one of the country's most beloved photo ops, the rock hard Trollpikken—literally "Troll Cock"—met a sad demise over the weekend when an unknown vandal severed it Lorena Bobbit-style.
The penis-shaped rock, located on a popular jogging and hiking route near the southwestern coastal town of Eigersund, now lies dejectedly on the ground. It looks like somebody drilled a few holes into its base, sending it careening from a rock face down to an uncertain fate. But activists are doing their best to save it, organizing a crowdfunding campaign that's already amassed almost 187,000 Norwegian kroner ($22,000). The cock—er, sorry, rock—even has a Facebook fan page, and everyone from Eigersund's mayor to the local police chief have spoken out against the anonymous vandal.
Almost 900 people have donated to the crowdfunding campaign so far. Lead campaigner Kjetil Bentsen told Norwegian broadcaster NRK he has full confidence the rock will "be rebuilt." Local activists believe that the Trollpikken can and will be somehow re-attached, and hope that it will one day reach the same level of Facebook-profile-photo notoriety as competing tourist attraction Trolltunga—"Troll's Tongue"— in Norway's picturesque Skjeggedal Valley.
Scandinavia's tourist attractions are under threat right now, as millions of tourists flock to the region to revel in its natural beauty. Just last week, some tourist bro carved the words "SEND NUDES" into a beloved mossy hill that has become a popular hiking destination near Nesjavallaleið in South Iceland. In fact, Iceland is so worried about the impact of a recent tourism influx on its fragile eco-systems that it's considering implementing a tourist tax to discourage people from coming.
The Norwegian tourist board publicly ruled out implementing a tourist tax back in March. It remains to be seen whether the Trollpikken tragedy will change a few folks' minds.
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