UPDATE:
The mystery of the Les Darcy statue’s missing plaques has been solved – and the culprit may not be who you expected.
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Maitland City Council announced on Wednesday that the missing plaques weren’t the result of vandalism, as feared by Les Darcy Committee members, but were removed by them earlier this week to allow maintenance on the iconic statue.
Engineers removed the plaques after noticing the base of the statue was separating.
Council projects and building services manager Graeme Matthews said that, ironically, the plaques were removed to prevent their theft.
“The base of the statue is in two parts and there’s separation and movement,” he said.
“About a fortnight ago we were alerted to [the damage] by park staff.
“[Engineers] removed two plaques because he was concerned someone could come along and pinch them.
“He took them to our Metford depot and they’re sitting here now.”
Mr Matthews said council would be inspecting the statue on Wednesday to assess what action should be taken to repair the statue.
A spokesman for Maitland Council said the Les Darcy Committee had not been contacted about the repairs because they were unplanned, but that the committee would be contacted on Wednesday.
The spokesman said the speed at which the removal of the plaques were noticed was a testament to how important the bronze figure was to Maitland.
“There wouldn’t be many places where plaques going missing would be noticed so quickly,” he said.
INITIAL REPORT:
It was a community project close to Maitland’s heart and one that helped immortalise an international sporting hero.
The fundraiser to help restore the grave of boxing great Les Darcy was something the city of Maitland embraced and worked on for months, yet it took just a few minutes to destroy.
Members of the Les Darcy Committee have this week learned that plaques sponsored by community members and attached to Darcy’s statue in East Maitland Park have been stolen.
Former chairman of the committee Tony Edmunds said he was shattered and disgusted to learn about the damage.
About 25 bronze plaques, which had the details of each of Darcy’s fights inscribed on them, surround the statue near East Maitland Bowling Club.
They could be purchased for $400 and money raised from their sale went towards the restoration of Darcy’s grave and the establishment of a museum inside the club.
Mr Edmunds said committee members Jennifer Mudd and her late partner Robbie Reid came up with the idea to include information about Darcy’s bouts on the plaques.
“I was devastated when I saw there were plaques missing,” Mr Edmunds said. “I was gutted. Hopefully we can pass the hat around and get some replacements made up,” he said.
Ms Mudd , former Darcy committee secretary, said the plaques were very popular and sold so quickly that many people missed out on purchasing them.
She said this was a project so many community members backed including Maitland motorcycle club The Gladiators who she said played a massive part in the fundraising.
Mr Reid, who was also a former committee chairman, was a Les Darcy enthusiast and collected all sorts of memorabilia that is now in the museum.
His tireless work to preserve the memory Darcy was recognised at the commemoration of Darcy's restored grave where Ms Mudd, accepted a plaque on Mr Reid's behalf.
“The statue is certainly a city showpiece and has been treated with such disrespect,” Mr Edmunds said.