Police have detained two residents of Kyiv on suspicion of stealing the bust of Ukrainian poetess Lesya Ukrainka on Saksahanskoho Street, Kyiv police reported on Thursday, March 22.
According to the report, the offenders stole a bronze bust, smashed it into pieces and gradually sold it as scrap metal.
According to the head of the main directorate of the National Police in Kyiv, Andriy Kryschenko, law enforcement officers carried out a number of operational and search measures and detained two suspects, residents of the Sviatoshynsky district, one of whom had previously been convicted of robbery and possession of drugs.
“We found that residents of Kyiv, 33 and 32, had stolen the plaque, smashed it into small pieces and handed them over to scrap metal reception points. We seized one piece of the plaque and attached it to the criminal proceedings as evidence. The men have already been notified of suspicion in committing a crime under Part 4, Article 185 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. This is a large-scale theft,” Kryschenko said.
The culprits were placed under house arrest under a court ruling. They face up to eight years of imprisonment.
It was reported in early March that the bust of Lesya Ukrainka had been stolen from the facade of the museum at 97 Saksahanskoho Street in Kyiv.
The police opened criminal proceedings under Article 185 (theft) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
