Giant bronze statue to French WWI soldiers stolen

PARIS (AP) — A more than one-ton memorial to soldiers killed in World War I has been stolen from its pedestal in a French town.

Veterans Minister Kader Arif said in a statement Wednesday that the theft of the monument in the northern town of Craonne in the Aisne region is an “insult to war victims and to France.”

The theft comes as France marks the centenary of the Great War.

The local web site aisne.net described the modernistic bronze monument as being 4 meters (13.12 feet) tall and weighing 1.6 tons. It said police were alerted to its disappearance Tuesday night.

The monument was poised on a strategic plateau, Chemin des Dames, where France suffered a defeat by Germany.

The work of sculptor Haim Kern was inaugurated in 1998.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up