{"id":423756,"date":"2026-01-19T18:34:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T18:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/423756\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T18:34:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T18:34:14","slug":"nicolas-cage-shrine-amid-weird-pranks-at-mount-gambier-deputy-mayors-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/423756\/","title":{"rendered":"Nicolas Cage shrine amid weird pranks at Mount Gambier deputy mayor’s home"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Nicolas Cage-themed shrine is the latest in a series of celebrity-themed pranks that Mount Gambier’s deputy mayor says have befallen his home in recent weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Josh Lynagh is keen to find out who is behind the mysterious objects that keep turning up outside his house, but said he would not be contacting police over the matter.<\/p>\n

“I feel it’s escalated to obviously this shrine,” he said.<\/p>\n

“You would expect there would be something bigger and then that might be it, I don’t know.<\/p>\n

“I’m keen for some sort of reveal \u2014 I think that would be good just so we can sort of put it to rest and find out who it is \u2014 although I am enjoying it at the same time.”\"A<\/p>\n

Josh Lynagh was first elected in 2022 and became deputy mayor in 2024. (ABC South East SA: Eugene Boisvert)<\/p>\n

News and celebrity connection<\/p>\n

The first set of objects left in Cr Lynagh’s letterbox just before Christmas included a signed photo of Australian pop star Delta Goodrem, a whole bulb of garlic, shark-shaped children’s floaties and a 30-cent stamp.<\/p>\n

“I just assumed that a friend had decided to do it and then it’s all kind of progressed from there,” Cr Lynagh said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The first items to appear in Cr Lynagh’s letterbox. (Supplied: Josh Lynagh)<\/p>\n

Another drop about a week later included a children’s biography of actor Keanu Reeves and a sticker with a QR code linking to Rick Astley’s hit Never Gonna Give You Up.<\/p>\n

As well as his role on council, Cr Lynagh runs the Facebook page Limestone Coast Community News and chairs the Mount Gambier and Districts Health Advisory Council.<\/p>\n

But he thinks the “letterbox lurker” definitely has an interest in council issues, with one group of items including googly eyes and blue items, which might be a nod to the Cast in Blue sculpture having googly eyes placed on it in September.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A woman appeared in court charged with the crime in December<\/a>, with the case set to return to court on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Cr Lynagh voted for the sculpture to be installed and covered the court case on his Facebook page.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Blue items appear to reference the controversial Cast in Blue sculpture. (Supplied: Josh Lynagh)<\/p>\n

Six framed photos of Keanu Reeves were placed around Cr Lynagh’s mail receptacle last Wednesday, along with three battery-operated candles and a note in Morse code saying “the black raven is the key”.<\/p>\n

Intrigue not concern<\/p>\n

The deputy mayor said he was not concerned about the series of pranks, still believing it was someone he knew.<\/p>\n

“I’ve had people ask, ‘Are you concerned, are you worried, do you want to go to the police about it?'” he said.<\/p>\n

“But I’m thinking the fact that it’s my house tells me it’s somebody that knows me because otherwise I would be concerned. So, I’m assuming that’s definitely the case.”<\/p>\n

He posted a picture of the possible culprit \u2014 or at least the latest one \u2014 on camera but is yet to solve the mystery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Nicolas Cage-themed shrine is the latest in a series of celebrity-themed pranks that Mount Gambier’s deputy mayor…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423757,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,467,18406,222772,134,222771,17550,222773,468,72931],"class_list":["post-423756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-blue-blob","tag-councillor","tag-deputy-mayor","tag-entertainment","tag-josh-lynagh","tag-keanu-reeves","tag-limestone-coast-community-news","tag-mount-gambier","tag-nicolas-cage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}