Last Friday Seattle woke up to discover that the bronze sculpture of Sadako Sasaki in their Peace Park, was missing from the ankles up.
I do not live anywhere near Seattle, but I know who Sadako was. Back when my youngest was 8 or 9, I sent in an order to the book fair to get her a pack of 3 books about heroic little girls. The book I recognized and that decided me on that 3 pack was “Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes.” I read it as a little girl, and wanted to give my girls the opportunity to read it. Sadako Sasaki died of leukemia when she was 12. She was one of of many many children who died that way due to radiation exposure from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. While she was ill, a friend gave her some paper and told her of a legend, if you fold 1000 paper cranes your wish will come true. So Sadako set about folding paper cranes for as long as she was able, then her friends and many other people started folding for her, her room became filled with paper cranes. After her death both Sadako and origami cranes became an emblem of peace. People still bring her statues around the world paper cranes.
No one knows who stole Seattle’s statue of Sadako. Nor does anyone know why, metal thieves, someone making a political statement, or just foolish pranksters. Whoever it was, it was a miserable thing to do.