Stolen
Shevchenko Statue Gets Widespread Media Coverage
By
Olena Wawryshyn
The theft of a seven-metre bronze statue
of Taras Shevchenko,
The disappearance of the
statue first came to the attention of the Board of the
One of the first to be informed about the
theft was Andrew Gregorovich, the vice-president of the Taras Shevchenko Museum
Board, who surveyed the crime scene soon afterwards.
The thieves had “very
clearly sawn through” the two-tonne statue, at the feet, and left a ladder leaning
against its base said Gregorovich.
Pieces of rope were found scattered around the base of the monument and
along the route to the road. “Obviously
it [the statue] was rolling and pieces of rope broke off the truck,” he added.
News about the theft appeared
in major Canadian newspapers including The Globe and Mail and The Toronto Star
as well as on television and in online publications. The media coverage led to the arrest of
Curtis Raae, 36 of
A metal recycler from
Burlington, Ontario, Gary Thomson, after reading news reports about the theft,
contacted police to tell them that two men who had been bringing him scrap
metal for four to five months had brought “an unusual” piece along with smaller
fragments of bronze. The piece turned
out to be the head of the stolen statue of Shevchenko.
As detectives
investigated at Thomson’s premises, the suspects showed up at his shop and were
nabbed by police.
By January 4, the torso
of the statue had not been found. Though Halton Regional police were searching
for other pieces of the statue at nearby metal recycling plants, there were
fears that it might be on a ship headed for
The bronze in the statue is
estimated to be worth $10,000. According to Gregorovich, as a monument, it is
“probably worth $350,000.”
The statue was donated to
the pro-Soviet Association of United Ukrainian Canadians (AUUC) in 1951 by “the
people of
The news of the statue’s
imminent arrival provoked a strong reaction from many people in the Ukrainian
Canadian community, who regarded that it would be used as a tool for pro-Soviet
propaganda. A Ukrainian community delegation met with Canadian Prime Minister
Louis St. Laurent to demand that the federal government intervene and prevent
the erection of the monument. The matter was even brought up in Cabinet.
The issue of the statue
was also discussed at the highest echelons of Soviet power; the Ukrainian SSR
strongman Nikita Khrushchev vetted the issue with Josef Stalin. Notwithstanding
Stalin’s approval of the project, no Soviet officials were present at its
unveiling, which took place as the Cold War was raging.
The statue, the parkland
surrounding it, and the
The