UW's Foucault pendulum out of action

We were sad to see on a recent visit to the Physics/Astronomy Building on the University of Washington campus in Seattle that the university’s Foucault pendulum is out of commission. According to the sign on the railing around the pendulum:

I have been damaged possibly due to vandalism. My mounting support bracket and cable are both damaged and need to be replaced. I don’t know when this can happen yet. I’m sorry I can’t swing gently for you at this time and I know people miss me. 

Given the nature of the damage, we wonder if some dimwits tried swinging from the pendulum.

We hope the pendulum is repaired soon. If blog hits are any indication, people are interested in Foucault pendulums. A post we wrote 2011 about the world’s largest Foucault pendulum, in the convention center in Portland, Oregon, is consistently among the top ten viewed on Seattle Astronomy.