Two intoxicated men have been sentenced to community service and ordered to pay a hefty fine after ripping in half and stealing a statue of Paddington Bear in England.
A judge criticized Daniel Heath and William Lawrence, both 22, on Tuesday for their roles in damaging the beloved fictional bear’s statue as it sat on its pedestal of a public bench in the town of Newbury.
“Paddington Bear is a beloved cultural icon with children and adults alike,” Judge Sam Goozee said. “He represents kindness, tolerance and promotes integration and acceptance in our society. ... Your actions were the antithesis of everything Paddington stands for.”
The pair pleaded guilty to one count of criminal damage at Reading Magistrates’ Court on March 3. They admitted to removing the statue from its bench on Northbrook Street, the Thames Valley Police said in a release.
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Heath and Lawrence were sentenced to a year of community service and ordered to pay £2,725 ($3,527) each to cover the cost of repairs.
Surveillance footage released by police shows the men struggling to detach the statue before carrying it away. They later took a taxi with the statue back to Royal Air Force Odiham, where they both work as engineers, police said.
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The Newbury Neighbourhood Policing Team tracked them to the air force base later that day, where they were arrested.
“After a short stay at Newbury police station, we handed the statue back to its owners so it can be restored," Inspector Alan Hawkett of the Newbury Neighbourhood Policing Team said.
The statue depicting Paddington in his classic blue coat and red hat, gazing skyward while holding a marmalade sandwich, was one of 23 installed last fall as part of a celebration for the release of the beloved bear's latest film, "Paddington in Peru."
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