Robot that successfully hitchhiked across Canada destroyed in US

Last year a hitchhiking Canadian robot passed through Sault Ste. Marie on its successful voyage across Canada.

This summer it was not so lucky.

“Unfortunately, hitchBOT was vandalized overnight in Philadelphia; sometimes bad things happen to good robots,” said a message posted Saturday to the official website for the robot.

Its creators were hoping the robot would travel from Boston to San Francisco, mirroring the east coast to west coast voyage it made in Canada the year before.

The robot was able to cross a few items off of its ‘bucket list’ (the body is made from an overturned plastic bucket), including seeing Times Square in New York City and doing the wave at a sports event.

But after just two weeks the robot was vandalized beyond repair.

A photo posted to Twitter appears to show the robot with its arms and head torn off.

The US adventure was attempted by a duplicate of the Canadian model that travelled in 2014 — which is still in one piece.

Its creators will try and learn from the experience.

“We know that many of hitchBOT’s fans will be disappointed, but we want them to be assured that this great experiment is not over,” continued the statement.

(PHOTO COURTESY TWITTER)