Rockford’s Symbol Mystery Solved

30 tons of twisted metal, painted bright red and a lot taller than I am; that's what the "Symbol" is. Or does it have more to offer?

I have to admit, I've never seen "Symbol" before today. I stood there, stared at it for just a moment, then thought "this is dumb, I'm getting back in the car." Once I got back to the radio station, I had to find answers on what this thing really is.

Turns out that it was created by a Kiev, Russia-born artist named Alexander Liberman. It was installed on the downtown mall in 1978.

This big red metal thing called "Symbol" is to pay homage to Rockford's industrial metal-bending factories. It was disassembled in 1984 then moved to its current location near the banks of the Rock River.

But that's not all... Did you know that "Symbol" has it's own Twitter Handle? It hasn't had much action since 2012, but understandable since "Symbol" doesn't have thumbs.

When I was gazing into the glory of "Symbol," I couldn't help but think this looks a lot like a witch on a broom stick. Do you see the resemblance?

That's as far as my investigation went to be quite honest. I now know exactly what it is. A witch on a broom. Mystery solved!