You have to be a pretty brazen criminal to steal a pretty bronze statue, but that’s just what’s happening in the Dutch city of Nijmegen. Ten of the city’s historic bronze statues have been stolen in what police believe to be a metal theft scheme. Bronze the alloy is worth quite a bit of money, so authorities believe the statues will probably not be recovered, except for perhaps in ingot form.
Now, to protect the other statues, the city is removing them from the streets and putting them into hiding. They’re also considering replacing the statues with less-expensive materials or installing GPS chips to track the statues in the event the are stolen. Here’s what I don’t get. How do you steal a statue? Street signs are small and easy to steal, but a giant bronze dude? That’s a bit harder to slip into the back of a van.
Tags: Nijmegen, The Netherlands, statues stolen from Nijmegen, Dutch city hides statues, unusual criminals, unusual crimes, statues stolen from Dutch city, statues stolen from public places, unusual thefts, statues stolen and melted for bronze, bronze statues stolen