Suni Lee statue stolen from St. Paul park

Suni Lee statue stolen, St. Paul Parks and Recreation director responds

St. Paul Parks and Recreation Director Andy Rodriguez spoke on All Day about the theft of a Suni Lee statue from a St. Paul Park.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - A statue of Olympic gold medalist gymnast Suni Lee has been stolen from a St. Paul park.

Suni Lee statue stolen

What we know:

The St. Paul Police Department is asking for the public's help finding the statue of Suni Lee.

In a post, the department says the statue and name plate were stolen from Lake Phalen Regional Park sometime over the past day.

A stone that says "Suni" that was part of the statue was found in the lake. 

Suni Lee's family, artist react

What they're saying:

Lee's family provided a statement after the statue was stolen: 

"Suni’s family is deeply saddened by the news of her statue being destroyed and removed from its original location. This senseless act of vandalism is not only heartbreaking but also a disgraceful crime. Destroying public property—especially one that holds such symbolic and historical significance—is truly deplorable."

The artist of the Suni Lee statue, Seexeng Lee, also gave a statement to FOX 9:

"I was dumbfounded, totally surprised, honestly heartbroken, because not just a beautiful art piece by itself. It's not just that. It’s of someone that we all know and we all admire and we all I thought we all love, and so for that to happen, I'm just dumbfounded, just shocked," Seexeng Lee said. 

"I don't think there's anything that indicates that this was, like, targeted towards Suni herself or anything like that. Right now, that's all under investigation. What this was, was it a prank? Is it someone is, you know, stealing it for, hoping to sell it for, you know, the metal we don't really know," said Nikki Muehlhausen with the St. Paul Police Department.

The backstory:

The statue was placed at the park back just over two years ago, on July 30, 2023 – which the city proclaimed as "Suni Lee Day."

The statue and holiday commemorated Lee winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics.

This is not the first time a statue of a prominent figure has been stolen in St. Paul. Just this past February, a statue of "Great Gatsby" author F. Scott Fitzgerald was stolen and destroyed by a thief looking to sell the copper.

What you can do:

Anyone with information on the theft is asked to contact St. Paul police via email SPPD-eastinvestigations@stpaul.gov.