Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Anchor resurfaces; the Navy had it
The anchor is back. Then again, it was never really stolen.
Commander Kurt Hedberg told La Crosse police today that the anchor was removed by the Navy, as it was federal property. Hedberg said that once the building was returned to the city, he was supposed to remove all federal property from the site, including the anchor.
The 6-foot-tall, 2,000-pound gray-blue anchor with wrap-around black chain anchor in front of the Naval Reserve Center at 2226 Green Bay St. made national news Monday after it was reported stolen on Saturday by Tom Sweeney, chairman of the Naval Reserve Center Memorial Oversight Committee. It was said it had been stolen between Dec. 31, 2007, and Wednesday, according to police reports.
The anchor was never assigned to a ship and is not an official navy anchor, Sweeney said. The anchor had sat outside the building since it was commissioned in 1949.
The U.S. Navy ceased operations at the center on May 25, 2007, and the facility was turned over to the city Dec. 31.
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