BUENOS AIRES (AFP).- Call it a clinic to restore marred beauty: arms, noses, hands and other appendages missing from sculptures due to vandalism or old age are replaced in a unique Argentine workshop.

Patiently waiting their turn, some 100 artworks from parks, gardens and other public spaces are scattered over the grounds of the outdoor facility in Buenos Aires.

Some 25 artists using old photographs work to repair damaged marble, remove graffiti and wipe away the effects of years spent outdoors.

But they must also create, fashioning missing body parts while remaining faithful to the original oeuvre.

The damage gets even worse during election times, as graffiti and campaign posters pop up like mushrooms, even on statues -- and Argentine is in fact getting ready for presidential elections in four months.

"At election time, our work intensifies," said Nicolas Quintana, director of parks for the Buenos Aires city council.

"We have a photo archives in the Department of Monuments and Artworks. We used that as a guide, and we also use photos from the Internet and magazines," added Gabriel Ramirez, a sculptor who is among those tasked with the delicate reconstruction work. 

And if none of that works, there are simply photos of hands and feet so artists can get the proportions right as they try to give victimized pieces a second life.

Vandalism targeting the city's 2,000-odd sculptures, monuments and so forth is so common that some exhibits are now displayed in what amount to cages or in glass enclosures.

The value of bronze is also a lure, for theft and resale.

In 2014, just weeks after a bronze statue of the Argentine tennis great Gabriela Sabatini was put on display, her raquette was torn off.

Jorge Zakkur, coordinator of the Department of Monuments and Artworks, says he toils on the restoration as if the works were his own. 

"These statues are like our children," he said.

"It is such a pity that people do not realize what we are doing, that an artistic heritage is so beautiful and it has taken so much work to do all this," Zakkur added. "And it gets broken for nothing."


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