From afar, Jim Robinson looks in good shape perched atop his brick base next to the Museum of Northwest Colorado.

But closer inspection shows he’s blue — mixed with a lot of yellow.

And Dan Davidson, museum director, is looking to the community and friends of the museum to help make the Yampa Avenue bronzed fixture right.

“People should spend time fixing things instead of breaking them,” Davidson said. “It’s just sort of disgusting.”

He arrived to work March 12 to find the eight-year-old statue named after his creator had been hit by spray-paint vandalism — layers of blue and mostly yellow paint covering its upper half.

Davidson himself walked past the statue that morning not noticing the damage before glancing out his office window.

“His elbow was yellow,” he said.

Craig Police Sgt. Bill Leonard said the incident was investigated and a possible suspect was identified.

It remains unsolved. Possibly the best clue to the incident was

left on the ground that snowy morning.

“The person has long feet,” Davidson laughed.

Several attempts at fixing Robinson using paint removers still have left faded signs of the damage.

The museum instead sought bids for the statue’s restoration. Sandblasting and a new finish have been priced at more than $1,000, he said.

Davidson insists the money isn’t budgeted, while a deductible set in the county’s damage policy leaves substantial costs uncovered.

“We’re looking for help to do something about it,” he said.

Davidson estimates the statue’s value at more than $25,000. Robinson’s parents homesteaded in 1886 near the former drive-in theater east of Craig and he married Jean Chew in 1911 — the same year that Moffat County was established.

Robinson passed away in California in 1976.

Paul Shockley can be reached at 824-7031 or at pshockley@craigdailypress.com.