An iconic statue in Seattle of Sadako Sasaki, a Japanese girl who died of leukemia after the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, has been stolen, local media reported Sunday.
The city government of Seattle reported the incident to local police Friday, according to The Seattle Times. The feet of the statue are the only remaining part of it after the theft, according to the newspaper.
The statue — Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes — was erected at Seattle's Peace Park in 1990 in hopes of world peace.
An official in charge expressed shock at the theft and asked for the statue to be returned.
The New York Times quoted an expert as saying that the theft might have been economically motivated rather than politically, since the statue is made of bronze.
The Seattle statue was modeled after the Children's Peace Monument in the Peace Memorial Park in the city of Hiroshima, which was devastated by the U.S. atomic bombing on Aug. 6, 1945, in the closing days of World War II.
Sadako was exposed to radiation from the atomic bomb when she was 2 years old and died of leukemia at the age of 12.
The girl, who continued to make paper cranes until her death in the hope of recovering from the disease, is seen as a symbol of peace around the world.
In an incident in 2003, the right arm of the statue in Seattle was cut off. It was restored with donated funds later.
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