Police Charge Juvenile in Theft of Summit High Sculpture

Summit Police have charged one local juvenile in connection to the disappearance of "The Wedding Party" sculpture that went missing from the lawn of Summit High Monday afternoon.

Lt. Steven Zagorski, head of the detective bureau, said police charged one Summit teen with third-degree theft after two of the five missing pieces of the sculpture were found in the juvenile's possession.

The teen was charged with third-degree theft because the sculpture is valued at more than $500. The total value of "The Wedding Party" by Hawthorne, N.J. artist Daniel Bertelli, is $2,000.

"Three pieces are still unaccounted for," Zagorski said. "The case remains under investigation."

The piece consists of seven pieces total. Zagorski said the other two pieces were removed by school officials Monday when they noticed five pieces had been stolen somewhere between 4 and 5 p.m.

But the story of "The Wedding Party" goes back to March of this year when it was vandalized. It was then subsequently repainted by Summit High art students.

It is unknown if the theft is related to the March vandalism but no students ever came forward and no other suspects were ever found.

"I don’t know what the reason behind the theft was," Zagorski said, adding that police continue to investigate any possible links to the March incident.

"We can't rule it out," he said.

The juvenile has been released to the care of a guardian. Zagorski said typically the Prosecutor's Office does not release the sex of a juvenile charged with crimes and the Summit Police Department does not release the age.

Officials at Summit High could not immediately be reached for comment.