Abraham Lincoln statue linked to Mount Rushmore was destroyed, Louisiana cops say

A stolen sculpture linked to the creation of Mountain Rushmore’s presidential images has been recovered, and it no longer qualifies as a work of art.

The statue of Abraham Lincoln by Mount Rushmore creator Gutzon Borglum was cut up to be sold for its silver content, according to the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana.

Three suspects – two men and a woman – have been arrested and charged with simple burglary and felony theft over $25,000, the sheriff’s office said in a Sept. 11 news release. They range in age from 20 to 49 and none live in the Ascension Parish.

The 64-pound solid silver statue went missing Sept. 7 during a burglary at the Houmas mansion, a Mississippi River historic site that dates to the late 1700s.

“Upon arrival, detectives located a broken window where the suspects forced entry and stole a statue of Abraham Lincoln made entirely of solid silver, with a historic value estimated at $166,000,” the sheriff’s office says.

“During their investigation, detectives learned the suspects sold parts of the statue at a pawn shop and a gold and silver shop located in Metairie, after cutting it down into several pieces. Detectives identified the suspects and executed arrest warrants.”

A photo shared by the sheriff’s office shows the sculpture has been sliced into multiple pieces.

Houmas House officials have not shared details of what will become of the parts, including whether an attempt will be made to restore the statue.

The Borglum Historical Foundation had the sculpture cast in 1990 from Borglum’s original plaster model, the Houmas House reports. It was made from “.999 fine silver” and had been displayed atop an 18th-century Irish chest in the home, the estate says.

Borglum became involved in the Mount Rushmore project in 1924, including choosing the mountain to host carvings of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Lincoln, the National Park Service reports.

“In 1927, the project of Mount Rushmore began. He created models and led the team of workers to sculpt the presidents’ likenesses in granite. Borglum led the sculpting until 1941 when he suddenly passed away,” the National Park Service says. “The loss of Gutzon Borglum is one reason Mount Rushmore was never fully complete.”

Houmas House is a mansion between Baton Rouge and New Orleans that has been restored to reflect “the opulence and wealth” of Mississippi Delta sugarcane farms in the 1880s. It remains a private residence of New Orleans businessman Kevin Kelly, who allows it to remain open for tours, the site reports.

Historians note Lincoln worked as a flatboat pilot on the Mississippi River as a youth, and “these voyages exposed the future president to the large-scale slave trade in the city, which he was ‘appalled’ to witness,” according to a post shared on social media by Houmas House.