Apparently, someone in the city is running around cutting off parts of sculptures for scrap. From Joe Gerth:

For the second time in a year and a half, thieves have struck one of Ed Hamilton’s sculptures in Louisville — this time trying to cut off the left hand of “York,” his statue of the slave who was instrumental in Lewis and Clark’s expedition to the northwest.

In December of 2023, thieves absconded with Abraham Lincoln’s stovepipe hat from the bronze sculpture Hamilton created for Waterfront Part.

This crap has got to stop.

“I don’t think it’s a personal thing,” Hamilton said with a laugh,” “Maybe my pieces are so unique, someone wants a piece of them.”

I kind of doubt it.

People who love and appreciate art wouldn’t do to Hamilton’s pieces what they have done to Lincoln and York. It’s likely someone who just wants the bronze to sell for $2.50 a pound so they can buy their next hit of meth.

Couple of issues here.

First: Has no one ever heard of surveillance cameras? There is no way someone is sawing off parts of statues downtown and it hasn’t been recorded by an ATM or any other spy cam located in the city. Seems like everyone and his mother have a Ring system in their homes, because I’m constantly getting text messages saying, “Anyone know who this is?,” with an attached photo or video showing someone doing something illegal or stupid.

Second: Get your illegal drugs right, Joe. Meth is so ’90s. The killer drug these says is Fentanyl. I know, because I see kiosks throughout the city with emergency supplies of Narcan to deal with overdoses.

Third: Why blame a junkie? While I was in San Francisco these past few years, people were stealing catalytic converters from cars in broad daylight. Cars.com says:

Money is the main reason catalytic converters are often stolen. They contain three metals that aid in the chemical reaction that makes exhaust pollutants less harmful: platinum, palladium and rhodium. The prices of these metals have risen dramatically during the early 21st century.

The thieves weren’t junkies. They were thieves out for quick bucks. It’s nice to blame everything on drugs (like one MAGA moron orange TACO does) but make it simple. A crook is a crook. If someone is desecrating statues and not getting caught, they’re too smart to be junkies.