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Baylor police: Someone tried to steal Immortal 10 statue
Thieves who attempted to steal a statue from Baylor University’s Immortal 10 memorial didn’t get far before dumping the bronze unscathed.
The statue of Clyde “Abe” Kelley was found about 50 feet from the memorial near Baylor’s Student Union Building, said Lori Fogleman, university director of media relations.
Baylor police noticed about 4 a.m. Saturday that the statue had been pried from its base, Fogleman said.
The memorial, sculpted by Bosque County artist Bruce Greene, was dedicated in 2007.
Police don’t know the thieves’ reasons for abandoning the statue, but Fogleman said it was so heavy four officers were needed to lift it into a vehicle to take it to the police department.
“Luckily for us, whether from the weight of the statue or the weight of their own conscience, those who tried to take the statue didn’t get very far,” Fogleman said.
Greene said it weighed about 300 pounds and was anchored in concrete.
The wayward statue is still in the Baylor Police Department’s office and it isn’t known when it will be back in the memorial. Baylor police are investigating the attempted theft.
Abe Kelley was a Baylor basketball player who died in 1927 when the team’s bus collided with a train in Round Rock. He and nine of the other students who died, collectively known as the Immortal 10, are remembered in statues and a bass relief.
Kelley pushed his teammate Weir Washam out of the bus’ window before the impact, sacrificing his life for the life of a friend.
Greene called the attempted stealing “regrettable.”
“That’s disrespectful, not only to myself and Baylor, but essentially what we have there is a memorial. Evidently, whoever (attempted to take the statue) didn’t realize that.”
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: Headlines, Baylor University, Baylor sports, Police & crime
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Comments
By Darla
May 26, 2009 9:45 PM | Link to this | Report comment abuse
No, they are just irresponsible , ignorant idiots. That may be harsh but some deserve that label. Apparently they have no heart.
By Ron
May 27, 2009 7:56 AM | Link to this | Report comment abuse
I agree with Darla. Hopefully, they left their fingerprints all over the statue, so it will be easy to track them down.
By Baylor Grad
May 27, 2009 8:33 AM | Link to this | Report comment abuse
I do hope they catch the people that did this. I would venture a guess that those responsible are probably students pulling a prank in extremely poor tastes. For anyone having gone to Baylor, we are all told the story behind the Immortal 10, and it is one of our most hollowed and sacred traditions.