Calif. vandals pull down Reagan statue with chain
Laudie Freed of Newport Coast looks at the damaged Ronald Reagan statue in Bonita Canyon Sports Park in Newport Beach, Calif. Sunday morning, Nov. 6, 2011. The statue was damaged after thieves apparently tied a chain around it and tried to pull it away using a pickup truck or other vehicle, police said. (AP Photo/Orange County Register, Richard Koehler) MAGS OUT; LOS ANGELES TIMES OUT
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. >> Vandals likely using a chain have pulled a life-size statue of former President Ronald Reagan off its foundation at a Southern California park.
Newport Beach police Sgt. Kirk Jacobi tells the Orange County Register that vandals may have targeted the $60,000 statue for sale as scrap metal. Or he says they don’t like the nation’s 40th chief executive.
The statue at Bonita Canyon Sports Park was found broken off its foundation early Sunday.
Investigators say thieves apparently tied a chair around the bronze and tried to pull it away using a pickup or other vehicle. City crews have now taken away the statue for repairs.
It was dedicated on Oct. 9 as part of the yearlong celebration of Reagan’s 100th birthday.
Nobody has been arrested.
