Cut at the ankles: another statue goes missing from an Edmonton park
Posted March 11, 2025 10:48 am.
Last Updated March 11, 2025 7:06 pm.
The sight of two metal feet sticking up from the snow is somewhat of a déjà vu for Edmontonians.
For the second time in less than two weeks, a statue has gone missing – cut at the ankles with just the feet remaining.
The latest incident: the statue of a little boy is believed to have been stolen from south Edmonton’s Ambleside Park.
“As soon as we got back from our lake home yesterday, I walked up and went, ‘Oh no, who would do that?’” said resident Marty Forbes.
The West Ambleside homeowners association (WAHOA) tells CityNews this is the second time the statue was taken — that the one now missing was a replica that replaced the stolen original “some years ago.”
The board of directors at the WAHOA says metal shavings could be seen around the feet, and there are track marks on the feet where the cutting blade skipped.
Forbes described the statue as a centrepiece for the quiet neighbourhood.
“Every little kid that comes walking here sits and plays,” he told CityNews. “That was a little boy standing here and it’s a little girl and a dog. So all the kids play there.”
The West Ambleside HOA says the statues were installed by the developer and they are maintained by the city.
“The WAHOA does not own any of the land or assets and has no responsibility for the maintenance of the statues,” the board of directors said.
The Edmonton Police Service was unable to confirm to CityNews if the missing statue in Ambleside has been reported.
The possible theft is drawing comparisons to the theft of a statue in an Edmonton river valley park two weeks ago. The life-sized bronze statue of Canadian women’s rights pioneer Emily Murphy was chopped at the ankles using a power tool in late February.
The Murphy statue is part of the Edmonton Arts Council’s 300-piece public art collection.
The missing Ambleside statue is not part of that collection.
Meanwhile Forbes is wondering who would do such a thing.
“You’ve destroyed someone’s handcrafted work,” he said. “I don’t know how you can replace it.”
