When was the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in Denver City Park installed? Search underway as parts of the statue go missing

Back in 2002, prominent artist and sculptor Edward Dwight created the Martin Luther King Jr. "I Have a Dream" memorial statue, which was installed in Denver’s City Park, Colorado. The memorial also featured sculptures by Rosa Parks, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglas, and Mahatma Gandhi. However, on Tuesday, February 20, 2024, the memorial was vandalized.

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Colorado Holiday Commission reported that several parts of the memorial statue were stolen by vandals. A community member informed Commission leader Vern Howard of the incident on Wednesday morning. The incident is being investigated by the Denver Police. The Denver Police Bias-Motivated Crime Unit is also assisting in the investigation.

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The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Denver was attacked on Tuesday night

According to a Facebook post, a community member from the "MLK Marade" informed the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Colorado Holiday Commission that the Martin Luther King Jr. "I Have a Dream" memorial in Denver's City Park was vandalized. The commission told The Denver Post that the memorial was vandalized on Tuesday night. The commission posted on Facebook:

"My heart is saddened... who would do this?"

The Martin Luther King Jr. memorial, made out of marble and bronze, had several pieces missing. The missing pieces included a panel showing black military veterans installed on the side of the bronze statue. This left a large, rectangular gap where the piece had been.

One of the bronze torches on the side of the panel depicting who commissioned the statue and a bronze angel on the side of the panel with Martin Luther King Jr.'s name engraved on it were also stolen.

Images of the vandalized memorial and the pieces that were stolen were posted on Facebook by the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Colorado Holiday Commission.

The leader of the commission, Dr. Vern Howard, had been involved in the city's efforts to install the memorial back in 2002. He told CBS News that he was the project manager during its installation. He further told the outlet that to him, the vandalism of the memorial was akin to attacking one of his kids.

The Denver Post reported that the incident, which took place on Black History Month, affected Howard like a "personal attack." He told the outlet:

"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."

He further added:

"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. We will never give up."

The vandalized memorial was the creation of artist, sculptor, and University of Denver alum Edward Dwight. As mentioned above, the memorial was installed more than two decades ago, in 2002.

Talking to CBS News, Dwight stated that the statue's plaque molds do not exist anymore and that the stolen piece weighed around 200 pounds. He said that the vandalism was "heartbreaking."

Dwight called the attack a "calculated effort" and feared that the vandals may come back. He warned that the rest of the memorial needed to be secured. Dwight told the outlet:

"It's not so much the physical part of it but it's kind of the spiritual part for me that somebody would violate this thing... and for what?"

He added:

"I can't see anymore and finding an artist who can replicate this is going to be difficult."

The Denver Post reported that the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial vandalism and robbery were reported to the Denver Police at 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday, February 21, who opened an investigation into the incident. The Denver Police Bias-Motivated Crime Unit is also reportedly assisting with the investigation.