Jackie Robinson statue found burned and in pieces after theft from Kansas park
The search is over for a stolen statue of baseball’s barrier-breaking star, but investigators in Wichita, Kansas, say the burned remnants recovered by firefighters mean the tribute to Jackie Robinson is damaged beyond repair.
The search is over for a stolen statue of baseball’s barrier-breaking star, but investigators in Wichita, Kansas, say the burned remnants recovered by firefighters mean the tribute to Jackie Robinson is damaged beyond repair.
Five days after the life-size statue was reported missing from a Wichita park and sports complex, police said the fire department had received a phone call reporting a trash can fire.
Once the blaze was extinguished Tuesday, the crew saw what appeared to be burned pieces of the Robinson statue; they were not salvageable, officials said. Additional parts of the statue have yet to be recovered.
“Wichita Fire Department arson investigators are investigating the fire aspect of this incident,” said police spokesman Andrew Ford, who added that authorities have conducted more than a hundred interviews.
Security video early Thursday shows multiple people hauling away the sculpture in the dark and loading it onto a truck that was later found abandoned. Photos show the people cutting through the statue near its base, leaving nothing but Robinson’s bronze baseball cleats.
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