art keys

Lots of cities have art objects associated with them. NYC has apples. Washington DC has pandas. Frederick has Keys. They are here because of Francis Scott Key. A while back there was a contest, actually just more like an event, where local artists could get a "key" and decorate as they saw fit. The keys are about three and a half feet tall and they are thick and look like a skeleton key pointed down. All of the keys were displayed around the city for a few weeks and some of them went on to be auctioned off. I have no recollection of where the auction money went. Unfortunately, some of the art keys were damaged by vandals. It really bothered me when that happened. One of them was hurt multiple times. The artist gave up trying to fix it. I don't blame the creator. Whoever decided to take it upon themselves to touch another persons art in such a way can only be labeled as criminal. I think of Frederick, most of the time, as a safe, small town where almost everyone gets along, but I think I am deluding myself. I wonder what would have happened if the people who did the damage had gotten their own key. What would their art have been the key to?