St. Paul police recover stolen Suni Lee statue during shots-fired raid
St. Paul police recovered a bronze bust of Olympic gymnast Suni Lee during a shots-fired raid at a Forest Street home around 12:30 a.m., and arrested a man on suspicion of receiving stolen property.[1]
Officers responding to the shots-fired call found spent rifle casings outside and, after securing the scene, obtained a search warrant to search the home.[1] Inside they recovered multiple firearms, ammunition and the bronze Suni Lee statue.[1] The statue was taken from Phalen Regional Park on July 31, 2025, and city officials said they plan to reinstall it there.[1]
City officials unveiled the bronze bust at Phalen Regional Park on July 30, 2023, to honor the St. Paul native and Olympic medalist. The bust and an engraved nameplate rock were stolen sometime between the evening of July 30 and the morning of July 31, 2025.
The bronze bust cost about $33,000 to create and install in 2023, paid for with neighborhood funds and private donations. A separate bronze statue of F. Scott Fitzgerald was stolen and cut into pieces in February 2025. That case ended with the statue recovered after attempts to sell it as scrap and an arrest on receiving-stolen-property charges.
The mainstream summary does not mention the significant financial implications of the Suni Lee statue's theft, which cost approximately $33,000 to create and install, funded through a mix of public neighborhood funds and private donations. This detail highlights the community investment in public art and the impact of such crimes on local resources. Additionally, while the summary focuses on the recovery of the statue, it overlooks broader trends in urban property crime, particularly the rising theft of bronze sculptures and metal cultural property across U.S. cities. A 2025 Seattle Times investigation indicates that this trend is driven by the financial incentives of scrap metal value, combined with the accessibility of portable metal-cutting tools and lax scrutiny from scrap recyclers, which fosters an environment conducive to theft. These factors suggest that the theft of the Suni Lee statue is part of a larger pattern of crime that intersects with other violent incidents, as noted in a 2026 OpenCrime analysis, which attributes surges in property crime to technological changes and pandemic-era disruptions. Understanding these underlying issues provides a more comprehensive view of the challenges faced by communities in protecting their cultural assets and public spaces.[2][3][4][5]
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📊 Relevant Data
The bronze bust of Suni Lee cost $33,000 to create and install in 2023, funded through a combination of public neighborhood funds and private donations.
Bust of Suni Lee near Lake Phalen reported stolen — Star Tribune
A separate bronze statue of F. Scott Fitzgerald was stolen from a St. Paul location in February 2025, cut into pieces, and recovered after an attempt to sell it as scrap metal, leading to an arrest on receiving stolen property charges.
Stolen F. Scott Fitzgerald statue recovered in pieces in St. Paul; suspect charged — MPR News
St. Paul spent more than $1.2 million in 2023 to replace and repair street lights and signals damaged by copper wire thefts, prompting new state legislation requiring licenses to sell scrap copper.
Statue of Olympic gymnast Suni Lee stolen from Lake Phalen in St. Paul — CBS Minnesota
📌 Key Facts
- Police responding around 12:30 a.m. to a shots-fired call at a multi-unit home on the 900 block of Forest Street found spent rifle casings outside.
- After securing the scene and obtaining a search warrant, officers recovered multiple firearms, ammunition, and the bronze Suni Lee statue stolen from Phalen Regional Park on July 31, 2025.
- A man has been arrested and booked into Ramsey County Jail on suspicion of receiving stolen property related to the statue, and St. Paul officials say they plan to reinstall the statue at Phalen Regional Park.
📰 Source Timeline (1)
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