A newly placed sculpture honoring Breonna Taylor in Oakland has now been stolen.
The theft comes just a few days after it was seriously damaged.
Artist Leo Carson created the bust to honor Taylor, who was shot and killed by Louisville police during a botched drug raid earlier this year.
It was placed on Broadway and Telegraph on Dec. 12 where an unknown vandal seriously damaged the bust on Saturday. Then Monday evening, someone stole what remained of the sculpture.
Damaged bust of Breonna Taylor in Oakland, CAMatt Bigler/KCBS Radio
"The racists who came in the dark last weekend and hit our statue with baseball bats and tried to destroy it, that speaks to the work being done in America to defeat racism and bigotry," said Carson.
He vows to build a new bronze statue in its place that will be vandal-proof.
"We are now going to fill the stand of the statue with cement and we're not going to hide, we're not going to retreat. We're calling on everyone to bring flowers and bring placards of statements of your support so that this can be a memorial of joy."
Carson had already secured the funds for a new statue after it was damaged. It will take a few months to replace the statue with a bronze, but he hopes that once it is completed it will be a permanent art piece.
