A giant rabbit erected by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman in Taiwan has been burned after an accidental fire on Sunday night. Local media initially reported that firefighters believe the fire which engulfed the 24 metre tall rabbit - created for the annual Taoyuan Land Art Festival - was ignited by sparks from welding being done by workers disassembling festival structures nearby. A spokesman for Studio Florentijn Hofman said that the fire occurred after much of the installation had been dismantled, "it was almost done when a spark from the crane we used to put the pieces in a trash container lit the grass." "Only the belly which was not yet put in the container [was damaged]. Fire brigade was already there and put the fire out, due to heavy winds and heat the grass burned around the work rapidly." Commissioned by the Taiwanese government, Hofman's latest installation project had been hugely popular, with more than two million visitors to the festival paying a visit to the giant rubber mammal. The 'moon rabbit' is a symbol of altruism and love in the legend of the Chinese Mid-Autumn festival, which took place on September 8. This is not the first time disaster has struck one of Hofman's creations. A version of the artist's giant rubber duck installed in Guiyang, Guizhou province in July was washed away by floods, while in January, the duck burst and deflated while visiting Taiwan's Keelung Port.
