Man arrested after more than $250K in metal stolen, including Emily Murphy statue

A man is facing charges in a string of thefts of metal address plates and the statue of Emily Murphy from her namesake park.

An Edmonton man has been charged in connection with the thefts of the Emily Murphy statue and multiple decorative address plates worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

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Police said the bronze statue was reported stolen from Emily Murphy Park on Feb. 26, along with the standalone plaque that was next to it, which was noted as missing the week before.

Between the day the statue was stolen and March 9, police also received seven reports that decorative address plates had been stolen from homes in west Edmonton.

The total value of the stolen items was valued at more than $250,000.

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On March 13, police searched a home in southeast Edmonton that was believed to be connected with the thefts. Later, police recovered portions of the statue and address plates at a local metal recycler.

A 43-year-old man was arrested on April 2 in connection with the thefts and charged with two counts of possession of stolen property for the purpose of trafficking over $5,000 and two counts of proceeds of crime.