Police investigators are searching for a 500-pound sculpture created by Canadian artist and sculptor Lea Vivot that was allegedly stolen by multiple suspects from outside a Toronto home early Thursday.
The statue’s owner, Murray Goldman, and Toronto police officers said on Friday that The Secret Bench of Knowledge sculpture — of which there are several castings in different Canadian and U.S. cities — was on display in front of Goldman’s home on Strathearn Boulevard, west of Spadina Road. He said it was embedded into stone on his front lawn about 26 years ago.
It was alleged the suspects loaded the sculpture, a life-size bronze bench with Eve offering an apple to Adam on its left side that he bought in 1986 for $150,000 (which Goldman said it’s worth an estimated $500,000 today), into a white van just after midnight.
“It was pretty peaceful … it was very meaningful to us,” Goldman told Global News Friday evening, noting the sculpture had inscriptions of the names of his children and his late wife.
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“Thousands of people – literally thousands of people – have stopped and enjoyed it. I noticed a young couple taking their wedding pictures on it, little children walk by and talk to Adam and Eve, and most recently one person put a COVID-19 mask on Adam’s face which I thought was very thoughtful.”
In a statement issued by police on Friday, officers released details of the investigation with the hope it would “assist in the recovery of this treasured community piece.”
“The fact it was stolen, I consider it a crime to the community,” Goldman said.
“I felt invaded, violated… just a further example of us living in uncertain times.”
Goldman said he’s offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of the statue, adding the reward is more than the melted value of the bronze.
Anyone with information was asked to call police at 416-808-1300 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-8477.
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