Johnny Cash springs a leak after Arkansas water tower shot
KINGSLAND, Ark. (KLRT) – Each town has that one thing they're known for, and for Kingsland, Arkansas, that's Johnny Cash. The music legend was born in the southern Arkansas town of 500 in 1932. But recently, Johnny's been acting up, thanks to a perfectly placed bullet hole in the town's water tower.
A silhouette of Cash was put up on the 50,000-gallon tank to commemorate the artist, complete with a guitar and signature stance. But city officials found a creative, illegal addition—a bullet hole aimed in such a way as to make the outline of Cash appear as though he’s relieving himself.
"Somebody shot our water tower, shot the silhouette of Johnny Cash in a very sensitive area," explained mayor Luke Nealas he looked up at the brazen act of vandalism committed against the Man in Black. "It's been leaking for the last—almost week."
The image of Cash urinating quickly went viral, with people driving into town just to see the leaking tower. While the situation may "walk the line" of humor, the damage to the tank is serious as it loses almost 30,000 gallons of water a day.
"People can look for their water to be discolored,” Neal said, as the town will have to switch to a water line as the tank is repaired. He added that water pressure may also be affected.
Images courtesy KLRT
According to Neal, the tower is losing somewhere around $200 in water a day. Added to a nearly $5,000 repair job involving draining the tower, that puts Kingsland’s budget in “the ring of fire.”
“It might seem small in bigger places,” Neal said of the cost, “but for here it's a pretty large number."
The Cleveland County Sheriff's Office does have some leads in this case, with the vandal possibly facing a felony charge for tampering with the vital operations of a city. A similar incident happened in 1993, but Johnny wasn't standing up there back then.