In Sweden, thieves stole a 125-kilogram bronze sculpture

A bronze sculpture by Swedish artist Carl Milles "The Emigrants" was stolen in Sweden, which was located near the House of Emigrants in the city of Växjö.

As reported by BAKU.WS with reference to the newspaper Smålandsposten, the disappearance of the statue was discovered on the morning of November 11 by the director of the Småland Cultural Park, Lennart Johansson. He suggested that the thieves would unlikely sell the sculpture as a whole, but would melt it down for the metal. Since "The Emigrants" is made of bronze, the perpetrators will receive less than they could have if the figure was made entirely of copper.

The sculpture weighing 125 kg was created in 1940. It depicts seven people sitting on the back of a large fish. The figure symbolizes the large-scale migration of Swedes to America from the mid-19th century until the early 1920s. According to Johansson, Milles' works often become objects of theft in Sweden. For example, in April last year, two identical sculptures "Sunshine" were stolen from the hospital in the city of Gävle and a swimming pool in Trelleborg.

Shortly before the theft of "The Emigrants," another stolen sculpture was found - the head of writer Vilhelm Moberg, which was stolen in 1999 from the same place. According to Johansson, there is no connection between these cases; it is more likely that inspiration for the crime could have come from the recent theft of royal jewels from the Louvre.

The museum park "Millesgården," which owns the casting mold of "The Emigrants," plans to produce six more originals of this work.