America's favorite oversized wooden elephant by the sea is going through what seems to be seasonal trauma here in Margate. Last summer, the problems were deeply rooted, psychological ("was Lucy really a boy?), financial (should the city seize control from the Lucy Committee?) and, most dramatically, cosmic (her famous howdah, the thing that sits on top of her back, struck by lightning!).
This summer, the old lug looks kind of dapper from ground level, see above, with some fancy new nail polish, no idea what the J stands for, but on top, things are a little, shall we say, open-ended. Lucy has temporarily lost the roof of her howdah. It now sits on the ground, with all its rot exposed like, say, a workman's belly on a hot day.

This is Tom Haight, an employee of MB Markland contractors, who this morning was selflessly ignoring the lure of the 70-degree water, and repairing rotted wood that was found after the howdah was removed. The lightning bolt struck Lucy's crescent and star (leading, perhaps, to this year's Lucy existential question: is Lucy a Muslim?) and blew apart the wood, but contractors found massive rotting of wood and steel throughout the structure. They are now basically rebuilding the fiberglass and wood. Haight, whose last job was an actual house, though he's also worked on dog houses, noted the unusual nature of the work. "Whoever built this thing was crazy," he explained.
Here's another look.