Bronze artwork stolen from the Martin Luther King Jr. “I Have a Dream” memorial in Denver’s City Park was recovered by police after being sold as scrap metal, officials announced Tuesday.
Investigators found seven additional bronze pieces stolen from the Joseph Addison Thatcher memorial fountain in City Park while recovering the three pieces from the MLK memorial from a local business on Friday, Denver police said in a news release.
All the recovered pieces were returned to Denver Arts & Venues, which manages the monuments. The large plaque that was stolen from the MLK memorial was cut into four pieces before being sold, according to the department.
Denver police say two men were involved in the thefts, including one they identified as 67-year-old Herman Duran. They did not identify the other suspect, but are searching for both men, the police officials said Tuesday.
The department did not provide identifying information for either man, but in photos distributed by police Duran appears to be white with long, dark brown or black hair that is graying. The second man also appears to be white and middle-aged with dark brown hair and brown eyes.
The vandalism and theft of the “I Have a Dream” memorial was first discovered by city parks maintenance staff on Feb. 21, but investigators later determined the pieces were stolen between 3:30 and 5:30 a.m. Feb. 18, Denver police said Tuesday.
It is not yet clear when the pieces were stolen from the Thatcher memorial fountain, and there are still several pieces that have not been recovered.
Police did not know about the additional theft from the memorial fountain before finding the stolen works, the agency said in a news release.
Denver police initially investigated the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial vandalism as a bias-motivated crime. However, investigators now believe the theft was not motivated by bias because the pieces were sold as scrap metal, officials said Tuesday.
Anyone with information about the case may call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.
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