Police Are Searching For Suspects Who May Have Stolen An Iconic Marilyn Monroe Statue In Hollywood
Police in Los Angeles are looking for people that they believe climbed to the top of a gazebo and stole an iconic statue of Marilyn Monroe. Two suspects, both white males in their early 20s, have been identified as persons of interest related to the caper.
Reportedly, the perpetrators scaled the Four Ladies of Hollywood Gazebo, cut off the Marilyn Monroe weather pane at the top, and escaped with the piece, according to KTLA.
The gazebo is an homage to women in film from different cultures. At the base stand statues of Dolores Del Rio, Dorothy Dandridge, Mae West, and Anna May Wong, with Marilyn in her famous skirt-blowing pose from the 1955 film The Seven Year Itch standing on top of the gazebo. The sculpture was erected in 1994 on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and North La Brea Avenue.
According to LAPD, a witness watched someone climb up the gazebo and saw the statue off at the base. The suspect then stuffed the statue in a backpack and left the scene. The police also say that security footage around the structure caught the suspects in the act and they have fingerprints from the thieves.
LAPD released photos of the suspects, along with descriptions of them, to the public with the call to help find the missing Marilyn.
Help us find #MarilynMonroe!!#MarilynsMissing#Hollywood #LA #LosAngeles ????? pic.twitter.com/Lj7tPd1SPv
— LAPD Hollywood Division (@LAPDHollywood) June 20, 2019
The Blast reports that the LAPD Hollywood Division said that the first suspect “scaled the Hollywood Gateway Sculpture, cut off ‘Marilyn Monroe’ weather pane at top, fled scene with property. Weather pane possibly placed in white bag with black star. Susp equipment kept in black backpack.”
Councilman Mitch O’Farrell spoke with NBC Los Angeles about the case.
“I am calling this the great Marilyn caper of 2019,” he said. “We have a witness who saw someone climb this structure and saw off the statue at the top and it’s a Marilyn Monroe image.”
“It’s not okay to come and vandalize public art,” he added.
LAPD detective Douglas Oldfield added that a forensic team had scoured the scene and had found some clues that are helping them solve the case.
“We got a few prints with our experts up there,” he said. “We noticed the suspect used the Ws as footing.”
“[The Ladies of Hollywood Gazebo] means something to the community and we’re going to investigate this to the best of our ability,” he said.
Anyone with info that could help cops close the case should reach out to the LAPD Hollywood Division at 213-972-2971.
