The “disappearing” statue of the stolen statue of Satoshi, the creator of the pseudo-sex Bitcoin (BTC), reportedly stolen on Saturday, was reportedly stolen, according to Satoshi Garely, the arts group responsible for the installation of the statue.
Municipal workers in Lugano, Switzerland, recovered a statue that was thrown into Lake Lugano by unknown people from the base at Parcociani, the Swiss Lake front park.
Local government workers have found statues in several parts, showing that they were showing vandalism rather than theft for financial gain. The statue was welded to the base at two points on the statue’s feet, but it remained fixed to the base.
Satoshigallery provided a 0.1 BTC reward of over $11,000 for statue recovery, and Cointelegraph contacted the Art Collective for comments, but was unable to get a response by the time of publication.
The iconic artwork by Italian artist and Bitcoin advocate Valentina Picozzi was released in October 2024 and became the flagship symbol of the Bitcoin community. According to the artist, the statue took 21 months to fully plan and build.
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The Bitcoin community responds to vandalism towards iconic symbols
The Bitcoin community has expressed a dislike and rebellious response to statue theft and vandalism. It has since become a symbol of the Bitcoin movement and the mystical creator of the digital currency.
“It’s such a tasteless, stupid thing. I hope you find out who did it,” Gabor Gabaux, founder and CEO of Blockchain Royalty Rewards and Tokenization Platform Points Building, writes in X Post.
Others, like supporters of the pseudonymous Bitcoin, theorized that “drunk” party attendees, celebrating Swiss National Day, a holiday commemorating the European country’s founding charter, are responsible for vandalism.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino responded to the recovery of the iconic statue with simple heart emojis on social media.
“You can steal our symbols, but you can never steal our souls,” Satoshi Garely said, reiterating the Art Collective’s commitment to placing similar statues in 21 locations around the world.
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