Naked Man Stands on a Statue for 3 Hours

Guess he didn't mind the cold: A naked man sat on the statue of a 19th-century prince in downtown London yesterday, striking poses and waving his arms around while police tried to coax him down, the Telegraph reports. Police also closed off a street near Trafalgar Square to traffic and a gathering crowd. At one point the man stood on the head of the statue—of Prince George, the first Duke of Cambridge—and then sat on George's head.

He finally came down after about three hours and was taken away by police under the Mental Health Act, the BBC reports. "I just laughed," said a woman visiting from the US. "It's an experience." But the owner of a pub complained that business owners lost money when police cordoned off the road; he also wondered why "one naked man" required eight police cars, two fire trucks, and four mounted police. But a Scotland Yard rep said that "in a situation like this, public safety is paramount." (More London stories.)