A mysterious “yarn bomber” has been putting contemporary winter clothes on the statues of Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, and the Marquis de Lafayette during this winter’s cold streak.

The Morristown Patch reports:

“Morristown residents have had the mystery of the so-called “Yarn Bomber” on their minds since a slew of knit items mysteriously appeared on the statues in and around the Morristown Green late last week. The harsh polar vortex conditions that settled into the area prompted a visitor to the Green to place modern winter weather gear on the statues of George Washington, Marquis de Lafayette and Alexander Hamilton.”

The anonymous yarn bomber, also described as a “fiber fairy,” left a note attached to each article of clothing stating: “If you need this to help keep you warm in this cold weather, then it is now yours. Life is good. Pass it on.”  She remains anonymous, but tells the Patch that she will be back.

What exactly is yarn bombing?  According to the New York Times:

Yarn bombing takes that most matronly craft (knitting) and that most maternal of gestures (wrapping something cold in a warm blanket) and transfers it to the concrete and steel wilds of the urban streetscape. Hydrants, lampposts, mailboxes, bicycles, cars — even objects as big as buses and bridges — have all been bombed in recent years, ever so softly and usually at night.

It is a global phenomenon, with yarn bombers taking their brightly colored fuzzy work to Europe, Asia and beyond. In Paris, a yarn culprit has filled sidewalk cracks with colorful knots of yarn. In Denver, a group called Ladies Fancywork Society has crocheted tree trunks, park benches and public telephones. Seattle has the YarnCore collective (“Hardcore Chicks With Sharp Sticks”) and Stockholm has the knit crew Masquerade. In London, Knit the City has “yarnstormed” fountains and fences. And in Melbourne, Australia, a woman known as Bali conjures up cozies for bike racks and bus stops.

To record their ephemeral works (the fragile pieces begin to fray within weeks), yarn bombers photograph and videotape their creations and upload them to blogs, social networks and Web sites for all the world to see.”

Untapped Cities has recent images of yarn bombing from New York City.

According to the Morristown Tourism Board, the set of statues, collectively known as “The Alliance,” was unveiled at Morristown Green in 2007.

Here are the statues in warmer days

Morristown served as Washington’s headquarters during the winter of 1777.  It is the site of the “Schuyler-Hamilton House” where Alexander and Betsy courted before they were married.  For more information on Morristown, see All Things Hamilton.