The mayor called what he saw shocking, and the case was reported.
The statue of Miklós Radnóti, made from bronze plates by János Meszlényi in 1983, was stolen from Pannonhalma, the city's mayor informed MTI on Saturday.
According to Gábor Vas, he received a notification in the early afternoon that the statue of the poet had disappeared. A visitor reported to the Tourinform office that he had visited the memorial site, which had been vandalized by unknown persons.
The mayor - who immediately went to the scene - called what he saw shocking:
The recumbent hollow bronze statue was stretched and broken at the neck, leaving the head there. The statue must have weighed about twenty kilograms
- He told.
The monument was erected in 1983, in the area of the former Wienerberger brick factory, to commemorate the fact that Miklós Radnóti, who had been drafted into labor service, spent his last night there before his death in November 1944.
The mayor said that the area is currently owned by a private investor, it is classified as an industrial area, and the owner has fenced it off due to conservation and theft. Those interested could only visit the monument if they requested the key to the gate of the fence from the Tourinform office.
Negotiations with the owner about moving the monument have recently started. According to the ideas, by dismantling the fence made of concrete elements, the monument would have been aligned with the fence so that it could be seen by all. They insisted that the monument remain on the site of the former brick factory
- said the mayor, adding that the case had been reported.
Featured image: Miklós Radnóti's statue in Pannonhalmá. Photo: István Csuhai / Public Map
