A memorial to victims of racial injustice at the hands of police was stolen from an Ashland city park in the overnight hours of Saturday.
The "Say Their Names" memorial featured t-shirts printed with the names of people of color who died while in police custody. It received no official approval from the city or endorsement from any organization, and was entirely the work of concerned citizens.
JoAnne Feinberg, the organizer of the installation, learned of the theft from others in the area.
"We heard from a neighbor that they saw it on Friday night at 11. So, it was still up then" she says. "And then another neighbor quite early in the morning realized it was missing."
She's saddened but not surprised by the theft.
"When we first installed the memorial in June I felt that it could have disappeared the next day; we really didn’t know. And the fact that it had lasted for so long … almost 3 months now… we were just thrilled."
Feinberg says there were few traces of the exhibit left behind, which suggests to her a well-planned effort.
A complaint is on file with the Ashland police who are investigating the disappearance as a theft.
There are no plans to replace the memorial, which was already scheduled to be removed on September 13th.