Thieves take 300-pound sculpture in Chicago

CHICAGO – Size apparently didn’t deter thieves from stealing a 300-pound (135-kilogram) sculpture from a former Chicago church.

Plamen Yordanov tells WLS-TV that his sculpture, titled “Light Infinity,” was stolen Wednesday while he and his wife were outside the building doing yard work. It’s made of brass and stained glass and shaped like a large ring.

The sculpture has been displayed in New York and Chicago and was supposed to go to St. Louis next week for several months. Yordanov wonders if the thieves simply want to make money off the brass.

He’s creating an art centre in a burned-out church in Chicago’s Englewood neighbourhood. He says his plans won’t change, despite the theft. The sculptor is challenging the city’s plan to demolish the church.