A statue erected to honor MLB star Jackie Robinson was broken off at the feet and stolen from outside a Kansas youth baseball park Thursday.
Jackie Robinson Statue Stolen From Youth Baseball Facility | Click to read more 👇 https://t.co/017CIWKyK0
— TMZ Sports (@TMZ_Sports) January 26, 2024
The Wichita, Kansas, Police reported that the statue was taken from outside the baseball diamond at McAdams Park. Video shows the thieves breaking off the statue from its pedestal and throwing it in the back of a truck before driving off, TMZ reported.
“We noticed it around noon today when I had left the building. I always look over at the Jackie statue, and I looked over today, and I didn’t notice it, or I couldn’t see it,” said park supporter Bob Lutz, according to KAKE-TV.
“This is a sacred place. This is a place where we honor a man who broke down barriers and did things that had never been done before,” Lutz added.
Police Senior Public Information Officer Andrew Ford lamented the loss of the statue.
“The statue I think the League 42 paid $50,000 for that statue, and I think that was at a discounted rate, so that statue could be upwards to maybe a hundred thousand dollars. A bronze statue. A life-sized statue of an American icon,” Officer Ford said.
Robinson, of course, is famed for having broken the color barrier in professional baseball and becoming one of the first national black baseball stars in the 1940s and 50s.
Anyone with information about the theft is asked to call Wichita police investigators at 316-268-4407.
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