Artists lament theft of five bronze busts from central Athens park

Five bronze busts of eminent figures of the arts, politics and letters have been wrenched off their marble pedestals and stolen in two operations in the Writers' Park of the Athens Cultural Center, bringing the total of looted statues in the open-air gallery to eight.

According to sources, the five busts were removed overnight on May 25 and 26 by unknown assailants using equipment that allowed them to saw off the heavy busts from their stands and make off with the recently restored artworks undetected.

In 2013, the busts of Domenikos Theotokopoulos, Nikos Kazantzakis and Antonis Tritsis were stolen from the same location and have never been found. It is believed they have been sold for scrap and melted down, fetching around 100-120 euros per bust.

"I have been very upset and extremely troubled since I heard of what happened," sculptor Praxitelis Tzanoulinos, who...