The Great Static Wick Fraud

This might not be as ugly a story as you think.

Control surfaces are carefully balanced to avoid destructive flutter at
higher speeds. If you even repaint one, you have to have it rebalanced. A
missing static wick would have more effect on balance than just differences
in thickness of paint.

Since one missing wick wouldn't seriously compromise performance even in
IMC, it would be reasonable to glue one on temporarily to preserve balance
until a permanent repair could be made. (That's reasonable, not "legal",
"smart", "honest", or "ethical")

Perhaps someone did this and then forgot about it. Dumb, but less sinister.

The important thing is to remember that a missing static wick on a control
surface can cause you much more serious problems than static. It could tear
the control surface off if you let the speed get too high.