On Feb. 1, 2024, the Jackie Robinson statue went missing in Wichita, Kansas. Pieces were found burned in a trash can not too far from where the statue was erected. A week after the theft, the cost to replace it has been covered by a group that started a GoFundMe. In the span of a week, they have already raised a whopping $170,000.
Jackie Robinson was an amazing baseball player who won Rookie of the Year in 1947, Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1949, the Silver Bat Award in 1949, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, and was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. His life outside of baseball was even better. He was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984 according to Baseball Almanac.
The police say that the theft happened on Jan. 25, 2024. On Tuesday morning, the local fire department responded to a call saying that there was a trash can on fire in Garvey Park which was investigated and ended up having pieces of the statue in the trashcan after firemen put out the fire, according to CNN.
On Jan. 29, 2024, officials stated that they believe that there is a truck involved with the theft. The police are still investigating and will hopefully catch the perpetrator who did this.
