Scottish City Council Has Plan To End An Infamous Prank That Has Been Going On For Decades

Since the mid-1980s, pranksters have frequently placed a traffic cone on top of a statue of the Duke of Wellington in the city's Royal Exchange Square. For local residents, it's been a way to show off the city sense of humor and to celebrate the statue, which was designed Italian artist Carlo Marochetti and erected in 1844. Outsiders seem to agree - last year travel guide the Lonely Planet called the cone-wearing statue one of the top 10 most bizarre monuments on Earth.

But the Glascow City Council is not amused and says it cannot afford to continue spending around £100 ($160) to remove the cone around 100 times a year.

Thus the council plans to raise the plinth that houses the statue by 3 feet, making it harder for pranksters to climb. The statue renovation would cost around £65,000.

Some Glaswegians aren't too happy that the prank may be coming to an end, however - the "Wellington Cone" already has its own Twitter account, which is angrily challenging the council: