US & Canada

Statue of Girl Who Died from A-Bomb Stolen; Sadako Sasaki Sculpture Had Stood in Seattle Peace Park

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
This photo, taken in February 2004, shows the bronze statue of Sadako Sasaki, whose right arm was severed by someone in late 2003.

By Kayo Goto / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

12:16 JST, July 16, 2024

LOS ANGELES — A bronze statue of a girl who died from the aftereffects of the 1945 Hiroshima atomic bombing, which has long stood in a Seattle park, was discovered on Friday morning to have been severed at the ankles and stolen.

The Seattle city government, which manages Peace Park, reported the theft to the police, who are investigating.

The statue depicted Sadako Sasaki, who was exposed to radiation from the bomb dropped on Hiroshima when she was 2 and died of leukemia 10 years later. Sadako, who spent the time leading up to her death folding a large number of paper cranes, later became the model for the Children’s Peace Monument which stands in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.

Seattle’s Peace Park was built in 1990 at the urging of late American peace activist Floyd Schmoe, who was made a special honorary citizen of Hiroshima. The statue’s right arm was also cut off in 2003, though the damage was repaired.

The New York Times cited community members reporting that a thief possibly saw monetary value in the bronze the statue is made of.