Whats interesting is that most people would consider the original to be art, and most people would consider just the cocks to not be art, but are the cocks with the statement of intent art or naw? If just the cocks are not art, and the cocks with the statement are, then do the cocks become art if the artist knows about the art that used to be there? Do they become art if the viewer knows about the cocks and infers the missing statement? That's the interesting question here, because it implies that the piece can be art to one person who knows the context and not art to another person who is only aware of the cocks.
My highschool did something like this. There was a massive memorial dedicated to a African charity event we did. New headmaster came and the fucker god rid of it.