South Boston household pleads for return of stolen statue containing father and grandfather’s ashes

Lifelong South Boston resident Jessyca Doyle is hoping whoever stole the Charlie Chaplin statue from her facet yard will quickly return it, no questions requested.

The colourful three-and-a-half-foot-tall statue isn’t only a ornament — it accommodates the ashes of her father and grandfather.

Doyle stated she believes she final noticed the 40-pound statue exterior her house in Dorchester Heights on June 2. Her aunt and cousin observed it lacking on June 5.

“We’ve got lots of totally different relations inside Southie who would drive by and see the little statue and say a prayer or consider my dad. And now it’s gone,” she instructed NBC10 Boston.

The statue was considered one of Doyle’s father’s final portray tasks. So when he died in 2018, she stated, the household determined to place his ashes in it. Then, when her grandfather, Daniel “Babar” Doyle, died in 2020, the household determined to put him to relaxation together with his son, who was additionally named Daniel Doyle.

“Remembering when he initially painted the statue was considered one of my most distinguished recollections once I visited,” Doyle instructed NBC10 Boston. “It means so much to me. It means — form of like my dad by no means left, he’s at all times watching over me.”

Doyle stated she contacted Boston police concerning the theft Thursday and that they got here to her house to analyze the scene. She stated anybody with details about the theft ought to contact police.

Even so, Doyle stated she’s glad for somebody to easily return the statue to her house, and that her household understands it may need simply been taken as a drunken prank.

“We simply need my grandpa and pa house, and we’re hoping that they get house earlier than Father’s Day,” she stated.