San Jose police recover large Vietnamese memorial statue stolen from community garden

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- San Jose police say they have recovered part of a half-million-dollar statue that was stolen by thieves sometime over the weekend.

The statue is called 'Thank You America' and was made up of two soldiers, a South Vietnamese and an American soldier, side-by-side.

Thieves stole the 1,500-pound South Vietnamese bronze soldier, tearing it off its platform, along with flags and an urn from the Vietnamese Heritage Garden in San Jose.

"Very upset because that represents and honors the veterans, both Americans and Vietnamese," said Tran Vu of San Jose.

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There is anger and sadness from those in the community, including San Jose City Councilmember Bien Doan who says 140,000 Vietnamese Americans live in San Jose.

The statue represents American and South Vietnamese soldiers who fought side-by-side. It is called "Thank you America" as a display of gratitude for the many Vietnamese refugees who were welcomed by the United States.

"It took us 11 years to put that monument together. It's about half a million dollars. My understanding, the monument was found at the old, what you call the homeless encampment called the Jungle, right there off of Center and Storied Road," said Doan.

It appears as if the statue was dragged away, as tracks can be seen coming from the garden and through a field where there's debris.

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Police have not made any arrests or said exactly when the statue was taken. Those in the community attended a recent called Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces Day commemoration and the statues were intact at that point.

"I'm really upset because yeah it was normal on Friday and right now it looks like that," said Van Nguyen of San Jose.

Doan says San Jose police did a fine job in locating the stolen statue but now it's about getting it back up.

"I know it will take some time and funding in order to put it back together, but we would love to have it complete by the 4th of July, so that way we can celebrate the 250 years anniversary of United States. And for the country that gave us our second opportunity in life," said Doan.