A stolen statue of the legendary Corridor of Famer and civil rights icon Jackie Robinson was discovered destroyed on Tuesday morning.
The statue was snatched from McAdams Park in Wichita, Kansas final week.
The Wichita Fireplace Division was known as to a trash can fireplace at Garvey Park round 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning the place they found remnants of the stolen statue.
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Circa 1945: A portrait of the Brooklyn Dodgers’ infielder Jackie Robinson in uniform. (Hulton Archive/Getty Pictures)
“This was a heartbreaking discovery this morning,” Wichita Metropolis Council Member Brandon Johnson stated throughout a press convention, by way of Fox 4 Kansas Metropolis. “I hate to see that the statue was not in a single piece, however I do need everybody to know that we’re undeterred in ensuring that that statue will get rebuilt and put again there for our neighborhood, for League 42, for the younger folks. That image of hope will solely be gone for a short while.”
Johnson urged the neighborhood to donate to a fund arrange by League 42 for a alternative statue.
“We’re not searching for a whole, intact statue. We all know now we have to increase cash to interchange it, and we’ll accomplish that,” Johnson stated.
This March 4, 1946, file picture exhibits Jackie Robinson of the Montreal Royals baseball group, in Sanford, Fla. Already on the forefront on the seventy fifth anniversary of breaking baseball’s coloration barrier, Jackie Robinson’s life, legacy and impression is honored as a part of the 2022 baseball All-Star Recreation in Los Angeles. (AP Photograph/Invoice Chaplis, File)
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“Clearly, this isn’t the end result we wished, however it’s a end result, and now we will transfer on,” League 42 founder Bob Lutz stated. “We all know what’s forward of us. We all know we’re going to include a brand-new statue that appears precisely just like the outdated one.”
The statue was taken from simply above the ankles, and the thieves haven’t but been found. Nevertheless, police stated they imagine they discovered the pick-up truck used within the crime, and so they have “promising” leads.
The $50,000 sculpture was positioned in 2021 at McAdams Park, the place roughly 600 kids play in a youth baseball league.
Robinson broke baseball’s coloration barrier in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers after enjoying within the Negro Leagues. He was inducted into the Nationwide Baseball Corridor of Fame in 1962, his first time on the poll.
Jackie Robinson, in army uniform, turns into the primary African American to signal with a white skilled baseball group. He indicators a contract with the minor league membership in Montreal, a farm group for the Brooklyn Dodgers. (Getty Pictures)
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Within the majors, Robinson hit .313, received an MVP in 1949 and was named an All-Star six instances. He additionally was a Negro League All-Star, giving him seven all-star nods in skilled baseball.
Robinson died in 1972 on the age of 53, and it’s broadly thought the stress he endured all through his enjoying days contributed to an early demise.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
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