Jul 22, 2008 9:00 pm US/Eastern
Stolen Cherry Hill Horse Statue Found In Pieces
CHERRY HILL, N.J. (CBS 3) ―
It was once a huge bronze statue; now it's a box of bronze scrap.
Police showed CBS 3 what is left of "Athletes of Race: Primitive." The larger-than-life statue was cut up into hundreds of pieces and thrown into a cardboard box.
"To anyone to see the destruction of a piece of art like that, it's disheartening," says Detective Sergeant Joe Vitarelli of the Cherry Hill Township Police.
Police say the thieves who stole the work of art were hoping to make a quick buck by selling it for scrap.
Police charged Ian MacDonald, 33, Brian McMullen, 33, John Silcox, 36, and Joseph Lesniak, 32, with the theft. Police say all four worked near the construction site where the statue was awaiting a new home.
"I guess they saw an easy mark," says Sgt. Vitarelli. "They said, 'Look we got a score here, let's do it.' And they did it."
For nearly 20 years, the bronze horse stood outside the grandstand at Garden State Park racetrack in Cherry Hill. The statue, its companion work of art titled "Athletes of Race: Modern" and the racetrack's old gate are all that remain of the historic site.
A mixed-use development is being built on the land, and the developers had hoped to incorporate the two statues into the project.
The owner of a scrap yard in Camden called Cherry Hill police after taking a second look at a box of bronze he bought last week.
"Obviously they put two and two together and said we better call the police," says Vitarelli. "They said, 'If they're missing bronze and we have bronze here.'"
Most of the bronze pieces are unrecognizable. It turns out, though, that box held most of the stolen statue.
The sculptor, Thomas Schomberg, of Evergreen, Co., says he'll investigate whether the work of art can be put together once again.
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