GRANITE CITY, Ill. — Sculptor Wiktor Szostalo was visiting family in Poland when he got the news. On Sept. 17 a man stole a construction boom lift and drove it into Szostalo's Angel of Harmony.
At first, Szostalo thought it was an act of hate against Black people. His Angel of Harmony is a depiction of a Black angel surrounded by white, Hispanic and Asian children. He told 5 On Your Side, "some people thought maybe it was some anti-Catholic violence."
St. Louis Metropolitan Police arrested 35-year-old Christopher Jaros on Sept. 17 after identifying him by security camera footage. Jaros is facing several charges, including vandalism, property damage and unlawful use of a weapon. In a press conference on Sept. 18, St. Louis police said Jaros may have been experiencing a mental health episode.
"This poor man who attacked it, he may just be the one guy left by the medical system that should treat people," Szostalo sympathized.
Szostalo created the Angel of Harmony for the Cathedral Basilica in the 90s. In 1999 he told 5 On Your Side, "a majority of the surfaces will stay as I leave them on the day of the installation for the next 5,000 years or whatever, it's guaranteed. Like the arch, it's stainless steel. It's not changing."
The statue survived many St. Louis storms but was no match for heavy construction equipment, which knocked it off its base and caused damage.
"I know it can be fixed," Szostalo said. "I know that my method of working, just welding, I may just have to cut the whole thing to pieces and reassemble the good ones, straighten things and then produce new ones for the parts that haven't been."
Szostalo plans to hire an assistant to help him repair the Angel of Harmony. He says it could take between four months and a year, but he expects half a year.
A true artist, Szostalo is thinking about honoring the statue's history, "possibly be some trace of the violence that was actually done to it as a warning and sort of the story."