 An employee noticed last week that the sword was cut from a statue
of a Civil War artillery officer, the State Journal-Register
reported Saturday (http://bit.ly/sxWgJm).
Officials think the sword was stolen sometime between September and
early November.Nothing had been stolen from the Springfield site,
which is the final resting place of Abraham Lincoln, since the sword
on the same statue was taken more than 100 years ago, said Dave
Blanchette, a spokesman for the Illinois Historic Preservation
Agency. Then, the sword was bronze.
"We just cannot imagine why someone would even think about doing
it, let alone climb up the steps and actually do it," Blanchette
said.
The statue is on the tomb's balcony, which is closed to visitors.
Workers would likely have spotted a thief during the day, but no one
guards the tomb at night, Blanchette said.
A security guard was posted overnight after a 1987 incident in
which racist graffiti was spray-painted on the tomb. Five teenagers
were arrested. But budget cuts ended that position within a few
years of the incident, he said.
The rest of the statue was unharmed. Officials plan to fix the
statue, Blanchette said.
[Associated Press]
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