JUNCTION CITY (KSNT) – A community in Junction City is asking for help after discovering that a cherished piece of their neighborhood was stolen just before the Memorial Day Weekend.

Meredith Fisher, the Chief Business Officer with the Village at Freedom Place’s Homeowners Association, was going on a walk through her neighborhood on Friday, May 27 when she noticed something out of place: the large eagle statue that normally stands prominently on a pillar beneath an American flag was missing.

“We thought no one would be brazen enough to take it in this community,” Fisher said.

It didn’t take long for Fisher to take to Facebook to help spread the word about the missing icon. Despite these efforts and talks with the Junction City Police Department, there has been no updates on who took the statue or why. Fisher told 27 News that the statue was a significant piece of her community and had special meaning among military veterans.

(Photo Courtesy/Meredith Fisher)

“The frustrating part about it was that it was donated to military personnel when the developer built the community,” Fisher said.

The timing of the theft couldn’t have been worse according to Fisher who described it as “heart-wrenching” to have lost the statue just before Memorial Day weekend. Fisher said that many veterans make up the local community, including herself and her husband.

“Over the last five years we’ve been trying to build back the community and make improvements to the common area,” Fisher said. “This was a major punch to the gut seeing that one of the major parts of our community was stolen.”

Fisher said that she suspected that whoever stole the statue had to have had a truck with a lift on it in order to carry the eagle away. A broken drill bit was found at the scene and the pins that attached the statue to the pillar appeared damaged.

A plaque that sits beneath the eagle statue. (Photo Courtesy/Meredith Fisher)

When asked why someone would want to take the statue, Fisher said it was hard to say.

“Honestly, I can’t even imagine,” Fisher said. “I guess maybe if somebody wanted to up their game for their Memorial Day celebrations. I guess it’s always possible that someone had a genuine problem with the community. I just… I don’t understand.”

If you have any information related to the disappearance of the eagle statue, reach out to the Village at Freedom Place at 785-210-7865 or contact the Junction City Police Department at 785-762-5912.