Overview
- A roughly 9-foot bronze South Vietnamese soldier statue was cut free from the Vietnamese Heritage Garden and taken on June 21; officers found the statue the same day near Coyote Creek Trail and I‑280.
- Police released edited and infrared surveillance on July 8–9 that shows two people cutting a fence and using a commercial truck to drag the statue from the site between about 4:00 and 4:30 a.m.
- Investigators recovered a commercial truck they believe was used in the theft; the vehicle had been reported stolen on June 18 from the 1900 block of Monterey Road.
- The two suspects remain unidentified and outstanding, and police are asking the public to check private security footage and contact Detective Cobb with any information.
- The memorial was removed temporarily for damage assessment, community leaders called the act deeply hurtful, fundraising to restore the monument has begun, and detectives say they will pursue hate-crime charges if evidence meets legal thresholds.