Major League Baseball teams have committed funding to help replace a statue that was stolen and destroyed from a Wichita park.
League 42 reported Wednesday that it has received support from Major League Baseball and its 30 teams.
The youth baseball organization has also received support from local businesses. The Spangles restaurant chain is taking donations at all of its locations through Sunday.
A GoFundMe page created by League 42 had raised close to $170,000 as of Thursday morning, with a goal of $175,000. League 42 director Bob Lutz said the mold from the original statue still exists and it will be used to create a new sculpture.
The statue was cut down and stolen from McAdams Park on January 25th, and it was found burned and destroyed in Garvey Park a few days later. Police are still investigating and they are expecting arrests. They recovered a pickup that was shown on surveillance cameras at the time of the theft.
