"Obviously, we’ve had our eyes on the ground, not the heavens," the Rev Selwyn Yeoman, of the Church of Christ Community, said yesterday.
Until contacted by the Otago Daily Times, he was unaware of the unusual extension to the spire of the church on the corner of St Andrew and Filleul Sts.
"I walk past every day and didn’t notice it.
"Maybe the message is I need to lift my eyes to the heavens," he said.
While puzzled as to the identity of the mysterious individual responsible for the cone’s placement and how they managed to put it there, he was ‘‘very impressed’’ by the climber’s skills, particularly as the operation presumably took place during the night.
"You’d need a head for heights," Dr Yeoman said.
He imagined the cone would stay in place until the person responsible decided to remove it. And he wondered if the person might like to also remove some of the vegetation sprouting around the tower. The church spire’s cone was the second to mysteriously appear in a high place on a building this year, the earlier recipient being the Fortune Theatre.
In that case, the Fortune’s marketing and communications manager Jordan Dickson said the cone "appeared out of the blue" over a weekend. While staff were unsure who was responsible, Mr Dickson said he had heard some speculation.
An "intrepid urban explorer" had probably made the climb, possibly using the scaffolding on the next-door Corso Centre building which was being renovated at the time, he said.
In response to the appearance of the latest highly placed road cone, a police spokeswoman said they "strongly" discouraged the behaviour.
"Depending on the situation, a person could face charges — such as wilful trespass, burglary or wilful damage.
"They are also potentially putting themselves in danger."
