Locally Strange

Normally, I need to scour the internet to find strange news items.  Not so this time.  Today, I get to share something from the Independent Record, my local newspaper.

According to an article that appeared yesterday, a man named Scott Parent broke into a home on the 800 block of Logan Street in Helena.  Once inside the house, he did a most curious thing—he painted a mural on a wall.

The owners of the home were absent when Mr. Parent entered their house and they did not give Parent permission to paint the mural.  Upon arriving at home and finding the mural, the homeowners contacted the police and asked them the investigate.

The police located and talked with Mr. Parent a short time later.  He admitted he had been in the home and revealed details about the painting only someone familiar with the painting would know.

Mr. Parent has been charged with burglary.

The story left me with a lot of questions.

Did Mr. Parent, a 63-year-old man from Lincoln, Montana, know the owners of the house?  Did he supply the paint for the mural he painted?  What was the subject matter chosen by Mr. Parent and does he have natural talent as a painter?  Would I have wanted to keep the mural if it was painted in my house?

—Mitchell Hegman