Parts of a Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in Denver have been stolen

DENVER — A large Martin Luther King Jr. monument in Denver’s city park was vandalized and police are trying to determine whether there was racial bias.

Several pieces of the marble and bronze “I Have a Dream” monument were stolen Tuesday. The missing pieces include a bronze torch and angel, as well as a bronze panel depicting black military veterans, The Denver Post reported.

Vern Howard, chairman of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Colorado Holiday Commission, told the newspaper that a community member alerted him to the vandalism Wednesday morning.

‘You can steal. You can take. You can pull. You can hate. You can do whatever you feel is necessary to keep Dr.’s message alive. King and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Colorado Holiday Commission,” Howard said. “We continue to march, honor and work for freedom, for justice, for the end of racism, for the end of hatred and for the end of discrimination.”

Artist Ed Dwight created the monument in 2002. It features a bronze statue of King and smaller statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Rosa Parks, Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass.

The Denver Police Department’s Bias-Motivated Crime Unit is investigating.