Beloved Marine statue stolen from Larksville home

Beloved Marine statue stolen from Larksville home
By Matthew Harris (Staff Writer)
Published: June 20, 2010

The taciturn-faced Marine stood at attention in his dress blues, gripping an American flag and keeping watch at his post.

For six years, the 175-pound concrete sentinel, who stood barely 3 feet tall, steadfastly protected Florena Sorokas' front yard in Larksville.

Sure, he was a statue. But in a family where two sons are Marine veterans and two more grandsons served the Marine Corps, the oversized figurine was a talisman from the boys to the family matriarch.

"They bought it to protect me while they were gone," said Sorokas, who got the statue before her grandsons left for tours in Afghanistan.

And he never flagged in his duty - until Saturday, and not on his own will.

In the wee hours, someone sneaked onto Sorokas' lawn and made off with the statue, leaving the 71-year-old grandmother heartbroken and her family upset. Larksville police are investigating the theft and offering a reward to anyone with information leading to its return.
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Beloved Marine statue stolen from Larksville home