Animalier Heinz Warneke and stonecutter Joseph Garatti created it from a 13-ton block of Indiana Limestone.

Arriving on the Penn State campus, they found the Nittany Lion statue flood lit, deserted, and completely clean.

On the way out of town, they spotted a sign for Beaver Stadium, and turned into the parking lot there, prepared to paint the field's goal posts orange as well.

As the students fled, one of them became tangled climbing over the five-foot high chain-link fence surrounding the field.

The original sculptor, Heinz Warneke, was alive at the time and, with some difficulty, was able to match the stone and repair the damaged ear.