Watch CBS News

Officials Worry Biscayne Bay Sandbar May Be Magnet For Pranksters

MIAMI (CBS4) -Authorities are worried a Miami sandbar cast into fame when a teenager placed a piano on it may become a magnet for pranksters.

A cafe table and two chairs -- complete with tablecloth, place settings, a bottle of wine and a chef statue standing as sentry -- were spotted Friday morning on the famed sandbar. Luis Espinoza, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade Department of Environmental Resources, said the furniture was quickly removed.

Authorities are concerned the sandbar -- a few hundred yards east of Miami Shores -- may become a sweet spot in the bay for would-be artists, pranksters and anyone else awash in the piano phenomenon.

"The bottom line is that this is completely against the law," said Jorge Pino, a spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "People caught doing it will be arrested."

The table and chair replaced the baby grand piano that quickly became a worldwide sensation. The piano was removed from the sandbar Thursday, but its journey isn't over yet.

Carl Bentulan, the Palmetto Bay resident who hired a crew from TowBoat U.S. Miami to remove the piano from the small sandbar, beat Nicholas Harrington to the job.

Harrington, a junior at the MAST Academy, had hoisted the piano onto the family boat with his dad and brother and put it on the sandbar with a plan to produce a video that would get him into college. The video never materialized, though the story of the forlorn piano crowned with pelicans on a mud flat in Biscayne Bay caught fire.

On Friday morning, Bentulan heard rumors the Harringtons wanted the piano back.

"Clearly it was discarded," Bentulan said. "It was public domain. I did the community a service by paying to have it removed."

Bentulan's 10-year-old son Liam was the driving force behind Bentulan hiring a salvage company to retrieve the piano.

"On Thursday he said, 'Please Pop, can we rescue this thing,"' Bentulan said. "So I said, 'OK, how are we going to do this?"'

On Friday afternoon, the Bentulans had the piano delivered to a house they own in Palmetto Bay, after the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission cleared it for passage.

Liam hopes to use the piano's fame to make a difference. He envisions people from around the world writing "letters of hope" to place in the piano.

"It was left alone out there and wanted a second chance," said Liam. "I wanted it to come back to life."

(© 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.