This is a photo of two young people sitting on a city bench in Amsterdam. If you’re of a certain age you probably recognize these young lovers, as well as that bench, from the film The Fault in our Stars.
The city of Amsterdam reports today that this bench, made famous by John Green’s story of kids with cancer, has been missing for a month. That’s right. A city bench has been missing for over a month, unnoticed by the city, because it was replaced with a large flower pot.
Says city spokesman Stephan van der Hoek: “It’s embarrassing.”
The image of Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augusts Waters on the Dutch streets was released well before the film, and fans and tourists as early as mid-2013 had begun asking where the bench was.
Speculation on the disappearance seems to focus on two potential culprits: Fans looking for a take-home souvenir, or locals who have tired of the foot traffic from bench-ogling John Green fans.
Whatever might have caused the missing bench, van der Hoek has some good advice for investigators: “Keep your eyes on Ebay.”
