'Hiker' is in storage, repair tab likely to be high

Experts who have seen photographs of the damaged “Hiker” statue vandalized on Memorial Boulevard last weekend have told city officials that fixing it will be costly.
One foundry said it will “take many hours” and a lot of work to repair the damage to the historic statue dedicated to the veterans of World War II, said Park Director Ed Swicklas.
Swicklas said that the bronze statue was removed from its base Tuesday and put into storage until the city decides where to send it for repairs. It was held on by only four bolts, he said, and wasn’t hard to take off.
While police continue to probe the vandalism discovered Saturday morning, state Sen. Tom Colapietro, a Bristol Democrat, said that catching metal thieves may be a lot easier because of new legislation he championed this year.
Colapietro, who represents the 31st District, called the mauling of the statue “disgusting” and expressed hope that police would soon catch the culprits.
The Park Board is likely to discuss the vandalism during its 6 p.m. meeting tonight at City Hall.
Swicklas has sent photographs of the statue to at least two foundries that could be asked to repair the damage. The tab is likely to be more than $15,000 – perhaps much more.
Though it isn’t clear whether the statue was damaged as a prank or if thieves had planned to steal it for scrap metal, Colapietro said a new law he pushed at the request of a Bristol detective should help police trying to keep up with criminals who are taking metals all over the state.
The senator said that thieves have snatched drain pipes off a Cheshire church, plaques off of graves and more.
"They're stealing anything that weighs anything," Colapietro said, even beer kegs, which are worth about $50 after they've been chopped up for the metal.
To combat the problem, the law that Colapietro championed requires scrap dealers to take pictures of the license plates of anyone bringing in metal to sell and to record what they brought.
The legislation requires scrap metal processors to record certain information for all loads of scrap metal purchased or received, including a description, the weight, the price paid for the load and the identification of the person who delivered the load.
It requires scrap metal processors, junk dealers or junkyard owners to immediately notify their municipal law enforcement of the name, if known, and motor vehicle license plate, if available, of any person offering to sell a bronze statue, plaque, historical marker, cannon, cannon ball, bell, lamp, lighting fixture, lamp post, architectural artifact or similar item.
"That makes it a lot easier to catch" those swiping the material, the senator said.
It should also slow the number of thefts, he said.
"If you can't sell it, there's no sense stealing it," Colapietro said.

*******
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Public statues vanishing across the world

Though it’s unclear whether Bristol’s “Hiker” statue was mauled by mindless vandals or damaged by failed metal thieves, there’s no doubt that public statues across the world are falling victim to the soaring value of scrap metal.
In Detroit, someone snatched an 8-foot tall Jesus off the wall of a church, where it had hung for more than a century.
A $30,000 statue of Dennis the Menace vanished from a Monterey County, Calif. Park.
A bronze figure of former Olympic champion Steve Ovett disappeared in Brighton, England.
A statue of Lewis and Clark guide Sacagawea and her baby was stolen from the Fort Clatsop National Memorial Park near Warrenton, Oregon
Bronze plaques on a historic statue of P.T. Barnum in Bridgeport's Seaside Park vanished.
Copper-bronze statues that stood opposite a Cape Town, South Africa police station of anti-apartheid heroes Robbie Waterwitch and Coline Williams also disappeared.
A bronze miner who stood for 80 years in a Los Angeles park was cut in half above the knees and ripped from his pedestal in a park two blocks from Beverly Hills.
Life-sized bronze statues of children outside the Silliman Center in Newark, N.J. went missing.
A statue called the Battle Cross, commemorating the war on terrorism, was snatched from its stand in Yakima, Wash.
"Reclining Figure," a 2.1-ton sculpture by artist Henry Moore that’s worth $5 million was stolen from a museum in England. It would fetch about $10,000 from a scrap dealer.
The “Spirit of the American Doughboy” -- a zinc representation of a World War I infantryman -- was ripped from the ground in Anderson, S.C.
A bronze piece depicting Ukrainian Taras Shevchenko, erected in an Oakville, Canada park named for him in 1951, was chopped off at the feet and carted away.
In Chicago, a 6-foot, 150-pound stainless steel sculpture was stolen from the front entrance of the Newberry Library
A 7-foot Buddha, covered in copper-laden bronze, was stolen from an outdoor temple shrine at the Thai Buddhist Center in Elk River, Minnesota.

*******
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Colapietro says new law may help catch metal thieves

The vandalism of a Memorial Boulevard statue over the weekend was "disgusting," said state Sen. Tom Colapietro, a Bristol Democrat who represents the 31st District.
Colapietro said a new measure pushed at the request of a Bristol detective should make it easier to nab those involved in stealing metal.
He said that thieves have snatched drain pipes off a Cheshire church, plaques off of graves and more.
"They're stealing anything that weighs anything," Colapietro said, even beer kegs, which are worth about $50 after they've been chopped up for the metal.
To combat the problem, the law that Colapietro championed requires scrap dealers to take pictures of the license plates of anyone bringing in metal to sell and to record what they brought.
"That makes it a lot easier to catch" those swiping the material, the senator said.
It should also slow the number of thefts, he said.
"If you can't sell it, there's no sense stealing it," Colapietro said.

Here's a press release that Colapietro issued about the new measure back on May 7:

State Senator Thomas A. Colapietro (D-Bristol), co-chair of the General Law Committee, today urged Governor M. Jodi Rell to sign legislation he has championed for the last two years that expands measured designed to curb the theft of metals like copper and aluminum. The bill, previously approved unanimously in the state Senate, received a 147-to-0 vote in the state House of Representatives this afternoon.
"This is a bill that expands on the strong steps we took last year to reduce the number of thefts of copper and other metals," said Senator Colapietro. "This is a good, common sense bill. I urge the governor to sign this legislation and join the legislature in its work to stop metal theft."
Senator Colapietro added, "I'd also like to thank Senator Donald DeFronzo of New Britain for supporting the effort to expand this."
The legislation requires scrap metal processors to record certain information for all loads of scrap metal purchased or received, including a description, the weight, the price paid for the load and the identification of the person who delivered the load.
It requires scrap metal processors, junk dealers or junkyard owners to immediately notify their municipal law enforcement of the name, if known, and motor vehicle license plate, if available, of any person offering to sell a bronze statue, plaque, historical marker, cannon, cannon ball, bell, lamp, lighting fixture, lamp post, architectural artifact or similar item.
It also prohibits scrap metal processors, junk dealers or junkyard owners from purchasing or receiving a stainless steel or aluminum alloy beer or other beverage keg container if the container is marked with an owner-identifying word, symbol or trademark.
A first violation of the new law will be considered a class C misdemeanor; second violation will be a class B misdemeanor. Third and subsequent violations will be class A misdemeanors. Additionally, the measure gives a scrap metal purchaser the right to file a civil action against an individual who sells them material that is subsequently determined to be stolen.
The measure-included in an amendment to Senate Bill 298-now moves to the governor for consideration.

*******
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com