A man intentionally destroyed a statue honoring Arizona’s first Make-A-Wish recipient.
KNXV reports 32-year-old Troy Burke was arrested for stealing and smashing the bronze statue dedicated to 7-year-old Christopher James Greicius, who died of leukemia in 1980.
A statue was erected in his honor in 2018 in front of the Make-A-Wish building in Phoenix.
Burke was reportedly captured on security footage on January 3 wrapping a chain around the statue, then putting it in the back of a car after dislodging it. He was working with an unidentified accomplice.
Burke was arrested on January 10, and police say he “admitted to his involvement in this case.” Authorities say what was left of the statue was destroyed.
Linda Pauling, who is the late boy’s mother, was heartbroken by the theft. She noted they chopped up the statue and traded the bronze pieces for cash. She says they got $200 for the pieces.
“I don’t want to see it. I don’t want to see him all chopped up. I can’t. No. My mind does not need to see that,” Pauling said when asked if she wants to see the statue.
She not only hopes the other perpetrator is caught, but that the justice system throws the book at them. “Let’s give those two Make-A-Wish T-shirts and put a number on it. So, every inmate there knows they stole from kids. They violated children,” she said.
Christopher became the state’s first Make-A-Wish recipient when he told the Arizona Department of Public Safety he wanted to become a police officer. The department swore him in as the state’s first honorary DPS officer, and gave him a helicopter ride and uniform. He died two days later.