One recent autumn day, a young girl was found wordlessly gazing into the pond that abuts the La Jolla Community Center, at 6811 La Jolla Blvd. – several months’ soot and mud had rendered her almost unrecognizable (left), and she rather curtly declined to field questions on everything from her age to her residence. Enter Barry Feinman, founder and CEO of Restoration ArTechs, a Carlsbad firm that recasts architectural and artistic surfaces like these; a couple phone calls and two hours later, the girl was another person, still mum on her background but well on her way to a new public persona. Feinman restored the statue Dec. 15 as an act of thanks for the community’s support. The sculptor is the acclaimed Mary Buckman, who runs a studio in North Park. PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED