Thieves steal 2 more busts in Tehran

Serial thieves stealing bronze statues across the Iranian capital of Tehran carry on with their raid on the city's cultural identity by stealing two more busts.

Thieves stole the bronze bust of Ali Shariati, an Iranian intellectual, and the artistic statue of Mother and Child located in Shahrak-e Gharb neighborhood.

The recent thefts come as officials confirmed earlier that six bronze busts of social celebrities had been stolen since the start of New Year holidays in Tehran.

The bronze sculpture of the Iranian contemporary poet, Mohammad Hossein Shahriar, was the first bust to be stolen from the courtyard of Tehran's City Theater.

Busts of Sattar Khan and Baqer Khan were the next targets which were taken off their pedestals on the streets of Tehran. The two figures are Iranian freedom fighters and key figures in the Iranian Constitutional Revolution.

"They mostly smash the statues into smaller pieces or melt them for easy sale," Tehran Municipality's Statue Office Director Mojtaba Mousavi told Fars news agency on Tuesday.

"Such thieves are mostly looking for the bronze metal's value regardless of the role such statues play in representing the identity of the country," he added.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=124823§ionid=351020105.