Man Steals Sword From Joan of Arc Statue in Paris
The suspect reportedly climbed the bronze sculpture and broke off the French heroine’s weapon with a snap.
New year, new heist. A man was taken into custody in Paris on Friday, January 2, after he was suspected of breaking off and stealing the sword from an equestrian sculpture of Joan of Arc at the Place Saint-Augustin in the city's 8th arrondissement in broad daylight.
The sculpture, a bronze cast of Paul Dubois's original 19th-century rendition of the national heroine, depicts an armored Joan of Arc on horseback, holding her famous sword in the air.
Karen Taïeb, the deputy mayor of Paris overseeing heritage, history, and religious relations, told French media outlet Le Parisien that CCTV footage of the incident shows the man “violently shaking the horse, before climbing the statue and breaking the sword with a snap using his bare hands.”
The man reportedly made off with the sword, which broke into a few pieces, until a passing police patrol stopped him. Though the sword was recovered after the man's arrest, it remains to be seen whether the bronze weapon can be repaired or if it must be identically reproduced.
The suspect will undergo a behavioral assessment, and the 8th arrondissement has filed a complaint in light of the incident, reports say.
