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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Friday January 5, 2007 - 3 Statue's head found at local scrap dealer Continued from page 1 son Sgt. Peter Payne, admitting that looking for the pieces is tantamount to "looking for a needle in a haystack." It is widely presumed the statue was stolen for its scrap metal value -- as base metal prices soar and statue thefts become more common. Payne said there are frequent similar occurrences not only in Halton, but across the Golden Horseshoe, and police work together. Payne admitted it's tough slogging as officers comb the many scrap facilities across the region, Golden Horseshoe and Ontario. What has been recovered of the statue, its head, could now function more like a bust. Payne said it's possible a skilled artisan could potentially repair it. Saw marks ring the back and sides of the head, which still bears mud streaks from its ordeal -- police believe the detached head landed on the grass as the statue was removed -- but stop just short of its mouth. Payne explained that whoever tried to saw away the head met with frustration when they hit its moustache. The statue is hollow -- except for the moustache, which is solid. The head was instead cut away near the shoulders. It was also sawed off at the boots. Either way they cut it however, Payne said it likely took more than one person, a "significant size" vehicle, some pulleys and a gas-powered cutting tool of some magnitude -- as well as a fair bit of time -- to bring down the statue. It took Payne and a second burly police officer to lift the head alone, and it still was heavy, causing Payne to say it made him break a sweat. The statue was hoisted into place by a crane when it was installed atop its granite pedestal base 55 years ago. Its recent theft is the last in a trio of problems to beset the park that sits on the north side of Dundas Street and operates separately from the nearby St. Vlodymyr Cultural Centre and the Ukrainian cemetery that is the only one of its kind in Ontario. In 2001 a smaller statue of a seated Schevchenko, an orphaned serf who became a prominent poet and a hero to Ukrainians, was RIZIERO VERTOLLI / OAKVILLE BEAVER STOLEN AND FOUND: The sawed and muddied remains of the 170-lb. head of the statue of famous Ukrainian poet Taras H. Shevchenko was retrieved from a Burlington scrap metal outfit. stolen from the park. In 1988 the Taras H. Schevchenko Memorial Museum once housed at the park fell victim to arson. It was eventually replaced in Toronto. The foundation that operates the museum still operates the park and has been in negotiations to make it available as a public park to the Town of Oakville. William Harasym, foundation president, told The Oakville Beaver, following an emergency meeting held Monday after the head was found, that the statue's head will likely be housed in the museum. Though police estimated the value of the statue at over $20,000 -- Thomson paid $1.70 per pound for the 170-lb. head -- Harasym said to replace the statue would cost $350,000 and noted, "A gift is irreplaceable." The recovered head also bears the word "Lennin" scrawled onto its collar portion, but police said it's not believed the writing was done during its theft, but likely afterward. The statue was a gift to Canadian Ukrainians from the Soviet Ukraine -- something that still doesn't meet acceptance by those opposed to the communist regime. Payne dismissed any connection noting Lennin is spelled incorrectly. "It's a beautiful piece of art. What's really tragic is its loss. It's not just metal, it's art and history and significant to the Ukrainian community. It's tragic that it has been reduced to something as undignified as scrap," said Payne. It's believed the statue's head and upper torso were sold to the Burlington metal recycler in mid-December. Thomson told police the vendors claimed they were disposing of it on behalf of the Town of Oakville. Schevchenko's statue head was placed aside as what Thomson dubbed a "conversation piece." Shevchenko was a Ukrainian poet born in 1814 who lived as a serf in the Ukraine under Russian Tsarist control. Shevchenko's art was noticed by St. Petersburg artists who sold a painting to buy Shevchenko's freedom. When Shevchenko's poetry became agitational about his homeland, he was arrested in 1847 and sentenced by Tsar Nicholas I to serve in the military in the far reaches of Russia. He wasn't allowed to paint or write. Upon the Tsar's death a decade later, Shevchenko was pardoned, but his health was broken and he died four years later, in 1861. Shevchenko's poetry has been translated into 150 languages and re-printed in a replica of his original collection -- the Kobzar (minstrel). Ukrainian immigration to Canada began in 1891 and immigrants were said to arrive with the Bible and the Kobzar. Oakville's Taras H. Shevchenko Memorial Park used to measure more than 100 acres and house a museum and children's camp, but when arson destroyed the museum in 1988, 90 acres were sold. It was on Canada Day in 1951 that 20,000 people gathered at the park to see the statue unveiled. The park remains the site of celebrations every Canada Day. Facing a charge of possession of stolen property over $5,000 is Curtis Raae, 36, of Oakville. He will appear in Oakville court on Jan. 30. 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