Stolen North Shore Sculpture Recovered In Bridgeville

A sculpture stolen from the Three Rivers Heritage Trail, which runs along the riverfront on the North Shore, was recovered Wednesday morning.

The seven-foot-tall iron sculpture, “The Unkillable Human Sculpture,” created by artist Frederick Franck, was recovered by police from a private residence in Bridgeville.

The sculpture suffered light damage, and Friends of the Riverfront is working with Red Star Ironworks of Millvale to restore the piece. Plans are being made for its reinstallation in late August.

The 500-pound sculpture had been stolen from the North Shore riverfront trail, and the theives attempted to mask the theft by covering up the hole left behind.

“They took great steps to cover it up and fill in the hole,” said Thomas Baxter, director of Friends of the Riverfront.

Baxter was the first to notice the missing statue along the path and contact police.

The statue had been of the outline of human figure and had been installed in 2004. “The metal part is one-hundred pounds, and the base is (400 pounds of) concrete,” Baxter said.

Detectives said it appears tow truck tracks were left behind at the scene of the theft.

For scrap metal, the statue is only worth $50, police said.

Baxter told Channel 11 News that it is worth more than that. The artist, Franck, passed away in 2006.

“Since his death, the value of his artwork has gone up in value,” Baxter said.

The inspiration for the sculpture came from the bombing of Hiroshima "where burned into a concrete wall [Franck] saw the shadow of the fellow human evaporated the moment the Bomb struck."