A bronze life-size statue of the baseball player who broke racial barriers in 1947 was cut at its ankles, leaving behind just its shoes and the statue’s base.
The authorities in Kansas are searching for the vandals who stole a life-size bronze statue commemorating Jackie Robinson, the first Black Major League Baseball player, after they cut it off at the ankles, leaving behind just the statue’s shoes and base.
The police in Wichita were notified of the theft around 12:50 p.m. on Thursday after getting a call from League 42, the Little League nonprofit that installed the statue in McAdams Park, Andrew Ford, a police spokesman, said on Saturday.
He estimated that the statue weighed at least 100 pounds.
“I don’t know what the motivation is,” Mr. Ford said. “All considerations are being looked into.”
Mr. Ford said the police had surveillance footage of the statue being cut down and being placed in the bed of a truck that was pulled up or parked “at least in a way where it can be, you know, discreetly hidden.”
He said that at least two people were believed to be involved. Mr. Ford said the theft occurred early on Thursday morning. He declined to specify what was used to cut the statue because that was part of the investigation.
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Source: Elections - nytimes.com
