A judge has ruled that the artist who helped place a steel sculpture of a bent drug spoon at Purdue Pharma's Connecticut headquarters can get the sculpture back.
The Hartford Courant reports the judge signed an order today that Boston-based artist Domenic Esposito can retrieve the sculpture from Stamford police.
Esposito and art gallery owner Fernando Luis Alvarez put the 11-foot-long, 800-pound sculpture in front of the company's Stamford headquarters in June, as part of an art protest against the opioid crisis.
It was quickly removed by city authorities with a payloader, and Alvarez faces charges of obstruction of free passage and interfering with police.
Purdue Pharma denies allegations that its marketing of the painkiller OxyContin contributed to the opioid crisis.
Esposito says the sculpture was inspired by his brother's struggle with drug addiction.