Staff photo / Dan Pompili A statue depicting Jackie Robinson shaking hands with his teammate, Youngstown native George Shuba, stands in Wean Park near the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre. The statue, titled “A Handshake for the Century” was unveiled in in Youngstown in July 2021, and depicts the first interracial handshake in Major League Baseball.

YOUNGSTOWN — City officials are taking extra precautions to protect a treasured downtown statue after a similar one was vandalized in Kansas earlier this week.

According to a Jan. 27 article in USA Today, a Jackie Robinson statue was stolen from a Little League baseball park in Wichita last Wednesday. The Associated Press reported Tuesday the burnt remains of the statue were found in a trash can when the Wichita Fire Department was called to the scene around 8:40 in the morning.

A statue depicting Robinson shaking hands with his teammate, Youngstown native George Shuba, stands in Wean Park near the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre and officials are increasing security measures at the statue’s location.

Youngstown’s 1st Ward Councilman Julius Oliver said he was informed of the Wichita vandalism by former Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber director Eric Planey, who first brought the idea for the statue to Oliver in 2019.

“Eric actually called us and made us aware, so we can up our security measures,” Oliver said. “Youngstown Police Department is aware of what happened out of town and is taking measures to make sure it doesn’t happen here.”

In Wichita, according to the article, the statue was cut off above its feet. Security footage shows the statue being hauled away by someone in a silver pickup truck.

Youngstown’s statue, titled “A Handshake for the Century” was unveiled in July 2021, and depicts the first interracial handshake in Major League Baseball. The historic moment came after Robinson hit his first home run for the Montreal Royals — a Triple-A affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers — during a game against the Jersey City Giants at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City on April 18, 1946. Shuba, Robinson’s teammate and a Chaney High School graduate, was waiting to shake his hand at home plate.

The statue was crafted and unveiled in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, a black man murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis in May 2020.

Oliver said he is not certain why the Wichita vandalism happened, but he knows what the statue means to many people.

“You don’t know the whole story, like if a real thief stole it to melt it down or if it was a disgruntled member of the community who didn’t like black people,” he said.

Oliver noted that some groups have taken offense to Civil War monuments honoring Confederate soldiers being taken down in recent years, and also that Black History Month is just days away.

“Having something like that happen here would be particularly disheartening,” he said. “This statue, it brings the community together in these hard racial times we’re having. It teaches kids about diversity, equity, and inclusion. It was designed, in our minds, to honor Jackie Robinson and George Shuba, and honor the history of them and the history here in Youngstown.”

Jordan Ryan, Vice President of JAC Management Group, which owns and operates the Covelli Center and the Amphitheatre, said the intent behind the vandalism seems clear.

“It certainly sounds like the people had motives, and their values are not the same as our values at JAC and here in Youngstown,” he said. “Jackie Robinson is a Civil Rights icon, and any time there’s some sort of attack on something to do with an icon like him, you don’t have to jump too far to imagine it’s racially motivated.”

With the statue in Youngstown standing 7 feet tall and weighing 2,000 pounds, Oliver said security was built in as a feature of the sculpture.

“When Eric Planey first brought this to us, we understood it was going to be a pretty important piece of art, made out of pretty expensive metal,” he said. “Eric, myself, the whole board, we met and came up with the idea of putting in things that would be decorative but also provide security measures.”

Oliver said the statue is lighted and surveilled by security cameras on all sides. Park security and Youngstown Police also regularly patrol the area around the statue, according to Oliver.

“We have this precious piece here in Youngstown, and we want to protect it, and I think people should understand now how important it is, given the theft of the other one,” Oliver said.

Youngstown’s 1st Ward Councilman said the racial makeup of Youngstown, being about 50/50 black and white, gives the statue special meaning.

“That statue is pretty important for everybody and we want to preserve it for everybody,” he said.

dpompili@vindy.com