Iconic Pease Park troll in Austin burns down. What we know.

Update, May 21 at 12:13 p.m.: The Pease Park Conservancy has publicly acknowledged the burning down of the Thomas Dambo troll, Malin, saying they’re “heartbroken.” 

“The troll sculpture in Pease Park was lost to a fire, and we are heartbroken alongside the community that cherished it,” the conservancy wrote in a post on Facebook. “We are referring all questions to AFD [Austin Fire Department] at this time.”

A Texas-sized troll that once gave a Central Texas community a reason to visit a historic city park has mysteriously burned to the ground. 

MySA can confirm that as of Thursday, May 21, the Pease Park troll in Austin, created by artist Thomas Dambo and unveiled to the public in March 2024, has completely burned to the ground. When visiting the art installation’s home at Pease Park, MySA found crews assessing the scene, where all that remains of the statue appears to be charred on the park grounds.

The Austin Fire Department told MySA they were “deeply saddened” to confirm the news that the troll burning down is true. A spokesperson for the department said Austin Fire received a call just before 5:30 a.m. Thursday reporting flames at Pease Park.

“The caller reported seeing them from where they were on Lamar. The first crew arrived on scene at the Lamar location at 5:35 but quickly realized they were not going to be able to access the site from there,” the spokesperson said in an email to MySA.

After relocating, crews were able to extinguish the fire despite the site’s limited access. AFD says the investigation is still ongoing. MySA reached out to the Pease Park Conservancy for comment, but did not hear back at the time of publication. 

The Thomas Dambo troll at Pease Park in Austin officially opened to the public on March 15, 2024. Named Malin, the troll was nestled in the woods on the grounds of the centrally located park. Malin was the 129th art installation by Dambo and his first in Texas.

During a press conference about the statue before its unveiling, Dambo said, ” I thought that it would be cool to make a sculpture that kind of reminded us that we have to remember to share this world with the other species, share our water with them.”