Pieces stolen from the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in City Park earlier this month were sold for scrap metal, according to a statement issued by the Denver Police Department on Tuesday.
According to DPD, 10 bronze pieces were sold to a local business, including pieces from the MLK monument along with pieces from the Joseph Addison Thatcher Memorial Fountain in City Park. DPD said that investigators recovered the items, which include a plaque honoring Black veterans that was cut into four pieces. Other pieces are still missing.
City staff noticed the vandalism on Feb. 21, but according to DPD the theft occurred on Feb. 18. DPD has identified Herman Duran as a suspect, and is seeking help in identifying the second suspect and tracking them down.
"Because the stolen pieces from the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 'I have a Dream' monument and Joseph Addison Thatcher Memorial fountain were sold as scrap metal, the incident does not appear at this time to be bias motivated," DPD wrote in its statement Tuesday." However, investigators' final findings will be presented to the Denver District Attorney's Office, which will determines what charges to file, if any.
Sculptor Ed Dwight told Denverite last week that a number of his more than 130 statues across the country have been vandalized, often for scrap metal. Dwight, 90, said he struggles with his eyesight and can no longer fix the memorial and does not know who could.
Community leaders are now fundraising to fix the statue.
Vern L. Howard, Chair of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Colorado Holiday Commission, managed the memorial's installation back in 2002.
"My first reaction is, I'm happier than a butcher's dog that they found it," he said.
But Howard said repairing the statue could cost between $75,000 and $100,000. Last week former mayor Wellington Webb and former state rep. Wilma Webb launched a fundraising campaign to fix the memorial. As of Tuesday the campaign had raised around $9,100.
Howard said he hopes to not only fix the memorial but also include better lighting and surveillance cameras nearby. He acknowledged that property belongs to the city, but said he thinks fundraising is necessary because the city is currently making budget cuts to help fund its new immigrant response.
"Do I think they have a fiscal responsibility? Well, yeah, they do," Howard said. "However, human conditions and living conditions, making sure that people have a place to live and things of that nature, I think that that would probably top the list."
This article has been updated with comments from MLK Jr. Colorado Holiday Commission chair Vern L. Howard and memorial sculptor Ed Dwight.
