A new statue memorializing baseball legend Jackie Robinson was unveiled by officials in a Wichita, Kansas park on Monday as a replacement to one that had been stolen and damaged earlier this year, CNN reported.
Robinson broke the sport’s racial barriers as the first African American to play in Major League Baseball in 1947. He played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues before joining the Brooklyn Dodgers. He is considered as much a sports legend as a civil rights icon. Robinson died in 1972.
The new statue depicts Robinson carrying a bat over his right shoulder. At a night ceremony, the League 42 youth baseball league unveiled the latest statue at the same spot where the old statue was removed.
The original was stolen just after midnight on January 25, according to police. Days later firefighters responded to a call about a trash can fire at another park; after extinguishing the flames, authorities said they identified pieces of the statue.
The man who pleaded guilty to stealing the statue was sentenced to 18 months in prison and $41,500 in restitution for the theft on Friday, the Associated Press reported.
Since the original mold was still usable, a duplicate was made with funds raised from a GoFundMe campaign, including $100,000 from Major League Baseball. Donations also went to improving the surrounding plaza and the nonprofit’s facilities and programming.
Roughly 600 children play in the urban youth baseball league, which takes its namesake from Robinson’s number with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
“I’m just simply amazed by the support we’ve gotten from so many since this heinous act happened back in January,” League 42 executive director Bob Lutz said at the ceremony.
