Joplin police say they have arrested a man who is accused of stealing a statue in front of the Joplin Public Library.
Larry A. Hart, 56, of Joplin, is charged in Jasper County Circuit Court with a count of stealing, which is a Class D felony, the police said.
A bronze statue depicting two small children reading a book on a bench was reported stolen to the police on Tuesday, May 30, the day library staff returned to work following the Memorial Day holiday. Police said it was valued at $5,300.
Police said in a news release from Capt. Will Davis that they identified the suspect through a review of surveillance video.
The detective who was reviewing the video said the suspect was first observed on tape at around 2:45 a.m. Monday, May 29, according to a probable-cause affidavit filed with the case. He returned a little over an hour later and started cutting the statue from its mount with a reciprocating saw, the detective said.
Just after 4 a.m., the suspect returned with another man and a dolly, according to the affidavit. The pair loaded the statue onto the dolly and wheeled it away eastward, the affidavit said.
The detective said in the affidavit that the suspect has been arrested numerous times since 2020 for burglary, stealing, vandalism, property damage, larceny theft and receiving stolen property.
Police said the investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information about the whereabouts of the statue or anyone else possibly involved in the theft is encouraged to call Detective John Watkins at 417-623-3131, ext. 1603.
The statue was presented to the library in 2019 by members of the Joplin Kiwanis Club in observance of the club’s 100th anniversary in 2020. It replaced a sculpture of a boy flying an airplane that had stood in front of the former library building at 302 S. Main St.