A priceless Jackie Robinson statue was stolen by thieves from a public park in Kansas on Thursday, cutting it off and leaving only the iconic baseball player's feet.
The brazen theft, which was condemned by officials as “horrendous” and “disgusting”, occurred just one week before the start of Black History Month.
“I'm more angry than frustrated to see something like this happen,” Wichita City Councilman Brandon Johnson said.
“This was disgusting. This should never have happened.”
One night, thieves robbed the League 42 baseball field at McAdams Park, which is also home to Jackie Robinson Pavilion.
Surveillance camera footage shows at least two people toppling the heavy statue and loading it into a silver pickup truck.
City officials theorize that criminals plan to sell the popular statue for scrap metal. The statue cost the city more than $100,000 to install in 2021.
But the sentimental value is much higher, they said.
“This has a huge impact on the history of our community, the history of baseball, the true meaning of Jackie Robinson, and this step is actually the antithesis of everything Jackie Robinson stood for. Yes. So, for me, it's just appalling,” said Troy Houtman, director of the Parks and Recreation Department.
Houtman said the park has dealt with a wave of vandalism in recent months.
Hoping the thieves understand the difficulties they will face if they try to sell the iconic statue, authorities are offering the opportunity to return it “no questions asked”.
“We will go ahead and restore this statue. We hope they are smart and take the statue back so we can restore it. If not, there may be other actions.” I think you can see that there is,” Houtman said.
The Wichita Metro Crime Commission on Friday offered a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to an arrest and an additional $5,000 for information leading to the recovery of the statue.
