A group of entrepreneurs is offering a $12,000 reward to find the statue of race car driver Gilles Villeneuve which was stolen from the museum in his honor in Berthierville earlier this week.
“We don’t touch Gilles Villeneuve. We don’t touch a monument. It’s part of the history of Quebec, of Quebec identity. We do not want this statue to end up melted into pieces, it must return to its base,” insists Frédéric Gamache, of Azimut POS.
The Quebec company has joined forces with the gasoline distributor B&G Race Fuels Canada and the automobile dealership GM Paillé to offer this $12,000 to anyone who returns the imposing bronze statue in good condition.
“We see that there is really strong indignation among the population,” underlines Alain Bellehumour, general director of the Gilles-Villeneuve museum.
During the night from Wednesday to Thursday, thieves allegedly sawed off the statue representing the racing driver, which measured 1.68 meters, at the ankles. They would have left with the top part, leaving only the feet and the base.
Photo provided by the GILLES-VILLENEUVE MUSEUM
The work created by Jules Lasalle in 1984 was in the parking lot of the museum dedicated to Gilles Villeneuve in Berthierville, in Lanaudière.
There is concern that the statue may have been stolen in order to melt the bronze and then sell it to a scrap dealer.
“$12,000 is much, much more expensive than the metal is worth,” underlines Mr. Gamache.
People currently in possession of the statue can return it to two secure locations: at the GM Paillé car dealership, in Berthierville, or at the Sanair car racing track, in Saint-Pie in Montérégie.
For its part, the Sûreté du Québec confirms that the investigation is continuing.
“We have had information, we must validate it one by one,” says spokesperson Éloïse Cossette.
Any information can be communicated confidentially to the Criminal Information Center of the Sûreté du Québec, at 1 800 659-4264.
