LUBBOCK, Texas — A Lubbock veteran man told EverythingLubbock.com he had two soldier statues stolen from his front yard on Monday and he hopes to get them back because of the meaning behind them.
SanJuan Rodriguez said the two soldier statues had been outside his home in Central Lubbock for over 10 years and are now gone.
Rodriguez served in the army for 10 years and his last tour brought him to Iraq, where he got injured and had to return home.
Rodriguez mentions his grandmother bought him those statues for when he got home.
Rodriguez said, “she got them in San Antonio [at the] Air Force base out there, Lackland Air Force Base. She really liked them. She made room in her car, brought them back here, and we put them out here and they’ve sat out here and she passed away a little over a year ago.”
Rodriguez said on Monday, his mother noticed the statues were gone. And then the next day, his wife noticed the second one had been taken.
Rodriguez said, “I was like, ‘no way’. So I came out here and I noticed they [were] gone.”
Rodriguez explained since he shared his post on Nextdoor, the Lubbock community responded the only way it knows how, offering to buy him new ones.
Rodriguez said, “And I truly, truly appreciate that and I can feel the love in it.”
But Rodriguez said the meaning behind those soldiers can not be replaced.
Rodriguez said, “But it’s not going to be the same, you know what I mean? I just don’t understand why you would take two soldiers. I mean, they’re not worth anything at all just to me, you know? I mean, they’re worth a lot to me, but not as a resale to anybody else. They’re not really worth anything. I could always replace them. But it wasn’t the point of buying new ones. It didn’t have that sentimental attachment to those.”
And Rodriguez just hopes whoever took his statues, returns them back to his yard.
Rodriguez said, “No, I wouldn’t call the cops or anything like that. It would really, really mean a lot. I’d definitely move it closer so it wouldn’t happen again, but I would really, really appreciate it.”
