Bronze soldier stolen from memorial in Paramount, no sign of who took it, authorities say

Why would someone steal a bronze statue from a public miliary memorial honoring soldiers in battle?

That question is still unknown, as major crimes detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department continue to investigate the theft of the statue more than four days after it was brazenly stolen from the memorial located just outside Paramount City Hall.

The statue, depicting a kneeling solider, is part of the ‘Battlefield Cross and Soldier’ art piece at the Paramount Armed Forces Memorial at the Civic Center.

Surveillance video taken at 2:15 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 19, showed an unknown person exiting a dark-colored car parked to the west of the public war memorial in Paramount, the Sheriff’s Department reported.

The thief then removed the statue using an unknown tool and then left the area, sheriff’s officials said.

LASD spokesman Deputy Tracy Koerner said the video did not show whether the person left the driver’s side or a passenger’s side. The quality of the video was poor and detectives were unable to gain any additional identifying information regarding the thief or the car.

This was not the first time the memorial was vandalized.

In May 2025, someone stole the bronze rifle that was part of the memorial.

Together, the combined value of the statue and the rifle is estimated at about $100,000, the Sheriff’s Department reported.

Anyone with information about the theft was asked to contact the Lakewood Sheriff’s Station at 562-623-3500.

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