Wipers are on the cowl...how???

Thanks, that’s kinda what I was thinking to do.
I have a theory as to how they got like that. I think the car was a flip when I bought it. I suspect the owner didn’t want to bother with fixing the wipers, and when he did the 2nd rate paint job it now has, he removed the wipers. When he replaced them, he installed them a couple splines off. Does that hold water?