The statues were broken into 42 pieces and divided

The prosecutor, Ramsés Barrera said that his office has investigated seven individuals about the vanishing statues and so far five of them have been charged with the crime of theft and it found guilty could go to jail for four years.

According to his enquiries the statues were systematically cut down into little pieces between 2006 and 2007, until the last one was finally removed in 2008.

The images of 20 children and 22 doves were taken without anybody noticing their absence from the warehouse until an employee of the Office of the First Lady reported their disappearance.

Apparently three maintenance employees, two units from the Institutional Protection Service, a former gang member who is part of the program “Youth with You” run by Panama’s First Lady and an unknown individual were involved in the theft of the statues.

Witnesses have said that the dismembered statues were taken from the Parque Omar in a truck that collected scrap metal, and more than likely the sculptures were melted down.