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SANDY — Police are trying to recover nine life-size bronze sculptures of children that were stolen over Thanksgiving weekend before the sculptures are cut up and sold for scrap.
The sculptures were stolen overnight Nov. 2425 from the Hill Gallery & Sculpture Park at 9045 S. 1300 East in Sandy. All nine were in a locked sculpture garden display, which the thieves entered by cutting a link in a heavy gauge chain used to lock the wrought-iron security gate.
Once inside the park, chains and padlocks used to secure the sculptures were cut, prying several pieces off the sandstone boulders they were anchored to. Each of the sculptures are the size of a 5- or 6-year-old child and weighs about 100 pounds.
"These are desperate people," said Dan Hill, the owner of the gallery. "This took some effort. It's not something you just throw in your car. It takes effort and thought."
The theft follows another theft last month of a bronze sculpture located at the Canyon Ridge Office Park at 1300 East.
"The frustrating thing is, you go up to our business one day and have a beautiful display, then the next day, everything is gone," Hill said. "And you know it will be destroyed."
The nine sculptures are valued at over $70,000, according to Hill. Anyone with information about the crime can contact Sandy City police at 801-568-7232.