Palm Desert approves contract to replace stolen bronze statue honoring sacrifice of servicemembers

Palm Desert is moving forwards with plans to replace a statue paying tribute to the sacrifice of service members that was stolen from a park last year.

In May, thieves stole a life-size bronze statue of a young boy from the park. The statue was part of a set called "For Our Freedom," a tribute to the sacrifice made by our brave service men and women, as well as their loved ones.

The statue shows a young boy is holding a small American flag in one hand and a toy plane in the other. The boy's shadow is another bronze statue, meant to represent the shadow of the future soldier the boy will become.

Behind the statue is a statue of a woman who has fallen to her knees clutching a burial flag to her heart. The artist behind Jesus and Adan Romo, the designers of the statues, say the woman represents a mother, a sister, or a wife of the future soldier.

The city filed a police report but the missing statue was never recovered. The city did get an insurance check in the
amount of $164,790.

On Thursday, the Palm Desert City Council unanimously approved a nearly $190,000 contract with Romo Studios to replace the statue. The remaining balance of approximately $23,600 will be paid from the Public Art Fund, according to city documents.

Romo Studios is the same company that originally installed the statue back in 2007.

City officials said Romo Studios will replace include a theft prevention device in the new statue. A rod will be placed inside the statue to make it more difficult to remove.

There is no word when the replacement statue will be installed at the park. Stay with News Channel 3 for any updates.