Thieves make off with bronze statue of Formula 1 racing legend Gilles Villeneuve – Canada News

Photo: The Canadian Press

A statue of Gilles Villeneuve is displayed outside the Gilles Villeneuve Museum in Berthierville, Que.,

A museum dedicated to revered Formula 1 driver Gilles Villeneuve is racing to find the stolen bronze statue of the Quebec speedster before it is melted down for cash.

Alain Bellehumeur, general director of the Gilles Villeneuve Museum, says the 6-foot statue was apparently sawed off at the ankles sometime between Wednesday evening and Thursday, and he is asking the public for help in locating it.

The statue was created in 1984 in honor of Villeneuve, who competed in 67 Formula 1 races from 1977 to 1982, winning six before dying in a racing accident while qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix at the age of 32.

In 1994, the statue was placed outside the museum dedicated to him in Berthierville, Que., about 70 kilometers northeast of Montreal, where Bellehumeur says the statue became an important part of the community’s cultural heritage.

He says the statue cost $25,000 to build in 1984 and he fears the thieves plan to melt it down and sell the bronze.

Jules Lasalle, the man who sculpted the statue, calls the theft a great disappointment and hopes it will be returned soon.