Someone stole Orville Wright’s head from Outer Banks memorial, NC officials say
Police are looking for a sculpture of Orville Wright that was stolen from a memorial in North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
The “copper reproduction bust” that sat at the foot of the Wright Brothers Monument in Kill Devil Hills was taken sometime Saturday night or early Sunday morning, and the granite base it was mounted on was toppled and damaged, according to a release from the National Park Service.
The monument, which is on Big Kill Devil Hill, commemorates Orville and Wilbur Wright’s first successful flight in 1903 at what is now the Wright Brothers National Memorial, the Park Service says.
It’s because of this first successful flight in the Outer Banks that North Carolina residents boast “First in Flight” on their license plates.
However, since the brothers are from Ohio, according to the Park Service, there is some debate about whether it’s fair for North Carolina to claim their success.
Regardless, the memorial allows people to stand where the brothers took their historic flight, the Park Service says.
The copper sculptures of the brothers are actually reproductions, Mike Barber, National Park spokesperson, told OBX Today.
The originals had been stolen and replaced twice over the past decades, Barber told OBX today.
Park Rangers and police are investigating the theft and ask anyone with information to contact the Dare County Community CrimeLine or the National Park Service’s Investigative Services Branch at 888-653-0009 or online, according to the release.
Big Kill Devil Hill may be closed Sunday as officials investigate, the release says.
This story was originally published October 13, 2019 at 11:51 AM with the headline "Someone stole Orville Wright’s head from Outer Banks memorial, NC officials say."
