Police hunt thieves who stole and burned statue of baseball hero Jackie Robinson

The burned remains of a statue of celebrated baseball hero Jackie Robinson were found Tuesday inside a Kansas park trash can, according to local police.

Authorities said they found pieces of the once glorified statue in a Garvey Park trash area in Wichita, during a press conference streamed by KWCH. 

The small fire drew local crews to the park at 8:40 Tuesday morning, and firemen were shocked to see the what the burning object was once they were able to drench the flames.

“This was a heartbreaking discovery this morning,” Wichita Councilman Brandon Johnson said to a group of attending Wichita journalists. “I hate to see that the statue was not in one piece, but I do want everyone to know that we are undeterred in making sure that that statue gets rebuilt and put back there.”

Strangely, the statue disappeared in parts. Most of it was taken last week after the bronzed image of the baseball great was cut by the ankles at the League 42 baseball fields in McAdams Park.

The statue was erected there because it is also named the Jackie Robinson Pavilion, a salute to Robinson being the MLB’s first African American player who entered the league by signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.

Wichita Police Chief Joe Sullivan said the arson was most likely an attempt to cover up the theft of the statute since the manhunt to recover it had escalated.

During the past week law enforcement agents have reportedly conducted more than 100 interviews.

“So for those of who are in any way involved in this … it is only a matter of time and it would be in your best interest to simply turn yourself in, come forward, admit your part in this … but either way we will be arresting several people for what they’ve done to our community,” the determined police chief said.

Video taken of the area depicted at least two suspected thieves dismantling the statue and appropriating it into a silver pick-up truck.

In an attempt to rescue the statue of Robinson, police gave the purported thieves one chance to return the bronze structure with “no questions asked.”

When that did not materialize, the alleged thieves appear to have tried to destroy the evidence of their crime instead.

In addition to being the first African American player to join Major League Baseball, Jackie Robinson became a legend because of his athletic prowess and hard-hitting batting average.

The legendary player was able to hit his way to a .313 MLB career batting average and ultimately made it from the Kansas City Monarchs in the “Negro Leagues” before signing with the Dodgers.

He was eventually inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Robinson has become a symbol in the civil rights movement as well. Every year, the MLB honors his memory and his contribution to the civil rights movement by wearing his jersey number, 42.

An online effort at GoFundMe has already raised $80,000 to replace the statue.