By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
A statue that sits in front of the Missouri Theatre in downtown St. Joseph has been vandalized again.
After being stolen earlier this year Allied Arts Council Executive Director Theresa Fankhauser says the statue was found broken and on its side.
Fankhauser says it's truly frustrating to see something like this happen again.
"And it's sad because it's a few bad actors, even if it were done accidentally, even if someone ran into it, I don't know what you do to make it break," Fankhauser tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. "But you know what I'm saying, you stand up, you take responsibility for your actions and that's what frustrating."
Missouri Theatre director Frank Polleck says he found the statue in its condition after returning from just a short drive from the theatre.
"Somebody busted it all and laid it to the side of the base," Polleck explains.
Polleck says the extent of the damage to the statue is unknown right now.
"It just happened so," Polleck says "I called the police and the police are working on trying to figure out who did it."
Polleck says he's unsure what to do to prevent more from happening to the statue in the future, aside from just placing it inside the Missouri Theatre.
Earlier this year the Allied Arts Council reported the same statue had been stolen before it was eventually found and returned.
Fankhauser says many people have suggested putting cameras around some of the outside statues.
Fankhauser says though cameras aren't always reliable, and they also aren't cheap.
"If the Allied Arts Council and or the City of St. Joseph had unlimited funds it would be a great thing to do, but neither the City of St. Joseph, or especially the Allied Arts Council, has unlimited funds," Fankhauser explains. "As much as we'd like to have, you know like Ring doorbells or Bode cameras everywhere, it's cost prohibitive for everybody."
An investigation is currently ongoing by St. Joseph Police to determine who may have broken the statue.
