A bronze statue of a boy joyously carrying an American flag was stolen outside of a bank in Covina, California, late Friday or early Saturday, reports the Los Angeles Times. This crime comes less than four months after a similar statue, of a girl holding an ice cream cone and flag, was also stolen, but later recovered. The Covina statue is one of four for which the locally based development firm McIntyre Co. paid a total of $270,000.

Sgt. Ray Marquez of the CovinaPolice Department said, "The thieves apparently used a truck to drag the 300-pound statue untilit broke loose from its base." The rise of metal thefts has led Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign five bills last month meant to combat illegal salvagers. Andrew M. McIntyre, a project manager for the firm, said, "The thieves are not going to deter us, we just have to be more creative at protecting these."