PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 4 (UPI) — A vlogger who was among the last to see hitchBOT intact shared purported surveillance footage of the hitchhiking robot’s Philadelphia demise.
Jesse Wellens, one of the last people to give a ride to the Canadian robot, shared a video on Snapchat that purports to show the robot being destroyed by an unidentified man, and the video has since circulated on Twitter and YouTube.
The video’s timecode indicates hitchBOT was severely kicked by the man about 5:46 a.m. Saturday.
“We have no interest in pressing charges or finding the people who vandalized hitchBOT; we wish to remember the good times, and we encourage hitchBOT’s friends and fans to do the same,” the robot’s creators said on their website.
However, Wellens and other fans said they were interested in finding and circulating surveillance footage of the attack on hitchBOT in the hopes of identifying the perpetrator.
A Craigslist post Monday offered hitchBOT for sale “as is,” but the post was believed to be a hoax.
