'People are just pathetic': Outrage as parts of Martin Luther King Jr memorial get stolen in Denver

DENVER, COLORADO: The Martin Luther King Jr memorial in Denver's City Park has been vandalized. The incident, which reportedly took place on Tuesday, has left the city in outrage.

Several significant pieces of the marble and bronze 'I Have a Dream' memorial have been stolen. This includes include a bronze torch and angel, symbols of hope and peace, and a bronze panel that honored Black military veterans, per The Denver Post.

Who created the Martin Luther King Jr memorial?

The memorial, a creation of artist Ed Dwight, was established in 2002 and showcases a bronze statue of King, accompanied by smaller statues of notable figures such as Mahatma Gandhi, Rosa Parks, Sojourner Truth, and Frederick Douglass.

Vern Howard, who presides over the Dr Martin Luther King Jr Colorado Holiday Commission, was alerted to the act of vandalism on Wednesday morning by a member of the community.

"You can steal. You can take. You can pull. You can hate. You can do everything that you believe necessary to detour the message of Dr King and Dr Martin Luther King Jr Colorado Holiday Commission," Howard stated.

"We’re going to continue to march, to honor and to work toward freedom, toward justice, toward the end of racism, toward the end of hatred and the end of discrimination."

The investigation of this incident has been taken up by the Bias-Motivated Crime Unit of the Denver Police Department.

Outrage over Martin Luther King Jr memorials in Denver getting stolen

Public outrage has erupted following the theft of several parts from the Martin Luther King Jr memorial in Denver.

A user took to X, formally known as Twitter and remarked, "People are just pathetic."

"Nasty racist trend," stated another. 

Another user opined, "For once in there Dominic life I wish the police would come out and simple say YES the vandalism and theft of MLK memorial was due to racism."

One person suggested, "Maybe it's the same people tearing down other statues."

"Likely the easy to remove parts are to be sold as scrap ......" mentioned another.

One person claimed, "Human vultures need punished."

Another user thought, "Drug addict scrappers."

"Should prob try to determine the perpetrators first," claimed another person. 

A person asked, "What's the gain of vandalizing it."

"That is very sad. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is one of my heroes and anyone who would vandalize this statue is a criminal!" noted another. 

Another person added, ""How many months do you think it take for the police to figure that out? 5? 6? Racial bias? Is that another term for racist vandalism?"

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