Statue Damaged While Intoxicated... Vandalized Again Days Later
Donated by Real Estate Lessor in 2013... Repeated Incidents of Vandalism
It has been confirmed that a current police officer is being investigated as a suspect in connection with the vandalism of the statue of Toyotomi Hideyoshi erected in a shopping district in Nagoya, Japan.
According to reports from the Mainichi Shimbun and other Japanese media outlets, Aichi Prefectural Police announced on December 25 that they are investigating two individuals on charges of property damage: one male police officer belonging to the Ehime Prefectural Police and another man residing in Nishi Ward, Nagoya. The two men did not know each other and are believed to have damaged the statue at different times.
The police officer from Ehime Prefecture is suspected of grabbing the neck of the Hideyoshi statue installed at the entrance of Endoji shopping district in Nishi Ward, Nagoya, with both hands and twisting it until it broke on the afternoon of August 19. He was reportedly staying in Aichi Prefecture on a business trip and is believed to have been intoxicated at the time of the incident.
The neck of the statue of Toyotomi Hideyoshi erected in a shopping district in Nagoya, Japan, has been damaged. Photo captured from social networking service (SNS).
A few days later, in the early morning of August 23, another man residing in Nishi Ward allegedly kicked the already detached head of the Hideyoshi statue, causing further damage. Police analyzed closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage from the area and separately confirmed the actions of both individuals.
After confirming the damage, the shopping district promotion association responsible for managing the statue filed a complaint with the police in December following internal discussions. Once the incident became public, the audit department of the Ehime Prefectural Police Headquarters stated, "We are confirming the facts and will respond strictly based on the results of the investigation."
The Hideyoshi statue in question was donated in 2013 by a local real estate leasing business to revitalize the Endoji shopping district in Nishi Ward, Nagoya. It was created together with statues of Oda Nobunaga, Tokugawa Ieyasu, and Mito Komon, and each was installed at a different intersection. All of the statues are made of reinforced plastic, and the damaged Hideyoshi statue is scheduled to be restored early in the new year.
The statues in this shopping district have suffered multiple instances of vandalism in the past, including the arm of the Oda Nobunaga statue being torn off in 2019 and the Tokugawa Ieyasu statue being found toppled over in 2022.
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