
TOKYO: An iconic statue in Seattle of Sadako Sasaki, a Japanese girl who died of leukemia after the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, has been stolen, local media reported Sunday.
The city government of Seattle reported the incident to local police Friday, according to The Seattle Times. The feet of the statue are the only remaining part of it after the theft, according to the newspaper.
The statue, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, was erected at Seattle’s Peace Park in 1990 in hope of world peace.
An official in charge who was shocked by the theft asked for the return of the statue.
The New York Times showed an expert’s view that the vandalism was not politically motivated but was likely an act based on an economic purpose aiming for bronze used for the statue.
The Seattle statue was modeled after the Children’s Peace Monument in the Peace Memorial Park in the western Japan city of Hiroshima, which was devastated by the U.S. atomic bombing on Aug. 6, 1945, in the closing days of World War II.
Sadako was exposed to radiation from the atomic bomb when she was 2 years old and died of leukemia at the age of 12.
The girl, who continued to make “orizuru” paper cranes until her death in hope of her recovery from the disease, is seen as a symbol of peace around the world.
In an incident that happened in 2003, the right arm of the statue in Seattle was cut off. It was restored with donated funds later.
JIJI Press