Don’t flip out, but a statue of Olympic gymnast Suni Lee has been stolen from its pedestal in a Minnesota park.
The Saint Paul Police Department shared a photo of the empty podium at Lake Phalen on Thursday in a Facebook post asking for the community’s help in finding it.
Police in the state capital say the bronze bust and the rock with her nameplate on it were taken sometime on Wednesday or Thursday. The rock was found in the nearby lake, but the statue remains lost.
There is a police surveillance camera in the area, so officials hope to find the thief.
“The statue itself weighs about 30 to 50 pounds, it’s solid bronze and it was also held down with two basically metal rods. This isn’t just something that you can kind of just wiggle loose and make off with,” Niki Muehlhausen with St. Paul Police told
When high-value items, such as this statue, unveiled on July 30, 2023, on “Sunisa Day,” are stolen, the police alert scrap yards and buyers to watch for resale attempts.
The Independent has contacted SPPD for comment, although its website says it’s currently experiencing a digital security incident.
Lee’s breakout moment came at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021), where she made history as the first Hmong American to compete for Team USA and the first Asian American woman to win Olympic all-around gold. She also earned a team silver and bronze on uneven bars, capping a total of three medals in Tokyo.
In college, Lee made history at Auburn University as the first Olympic all-around champion to compete in NCAA gymnastics. She captured multiple All-America honors, scored perfect 10s, and won a national title on balance beam before stepping away in early 2023 due to a kidney-related health condition now in remission.
After recovering, she made a triumphant return at the 2024 Paris Olympics as part of the U.S. “Golden Girls,” the team that won gold in women’s gymnastics. Lee also earned individual bronze medals in both the all-around and uneven bars, bringing her Olympic medal total to six.
Lee has received several high-profile honors, including Sports Illustrated Female Athlete of the Year, inclusion in Time’s “100 Most Influential People” list, and a Best Comeback Athlete ESPY this year.
Anyone with information about Lee’s statue is asked to contact the authorities at [email protected].
