Thieves stole a memorial bust of Robert F. Kennedy from the RFK Stadium campus in Washington, D.C., sometime between Sept. 15 and Oct. 1. Police had no suspect as of Thursday, Oct. 8, and the bust’s pedestal was left behind and later placed in storage.
The sculpture had stood there since 1969, when it was installed after Robert F. Kennedy was shot and killed while campaigning during the 1968 presidential election. Skip Strobel, a former federal employee who founded a group working on a museum and memorial library on the campus, last saw it on Sept. 15.
Skip Strobel at RFK Stadium
Strobel said he walked through the small garden where the bust had been relocated and planted sunflowers and native perennials around it. He later turned the sculpture away from the stadium as it was demolished so it would not have to watch. On Wednesday, Oct. 7, he stood by the empty space and said, “Bobby Kennedy is my number one hero since I was like 14.”
The bust was sculpted by Robert Berks, who created multiple busts of Robert F. Kennedy and John F. Kennedy. Robert Berks also made the 8-foot-high, 3,000-pound bronze bust of John F. Kennedy at the Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts, and Joe Biden kept a different Robert F. Kennedy bust by Berks in the Oval Office during his term.
Pedestal left in storage
An Events DC spokesperson told The Washington Post that the pedestal remained behind after the bust was taken and has since been placed in storage. The sculpture had been moved to a grassy area on the campus after the stadium was torn down last year, leaving the memorial on site but no longer at its original entrance.
The missing bust was one of the memorial pieces tied to the campus, and its removal leaves the pedestal separated from the sculpture that once sat on it. Police had not identified who took it or where it is now.
