SALT LAKE CITY — A few pieces from one of the iconic centerpieces of the 2002 Winter Olympics were stolen Saturday from the city's impound lot, police said.
Just after 1 p.m., a witness spotted a man loading six to eight metal posts into the back of a white pickup truck being driven by a woman, police said, and the truck was then driven away from the impound lot, 2350 W. 500 South.
One of the posts was recovered after it fell out of the back of the vehicle as the two attempted to get away, said Salt Lake Police Sgt. Robin Heiden.
The posts were pieces of the Hoberman Arch, one of the highlights of the Olympic Medals Plaza. The mechanical curtain, which resembled an eye's iris, was 36 feet tall, 72 feet wide, and weighed 31,000 pounds. Each of the 96 panels twisted and moved as it opened and closed.
After the Olympics, the arch was moved to the front of Rice-Eccles Stadium where it stood for more than a decade. Its 4,000 pieces were dismantled in August and put into storage while the city looked for a new home for the structure.
Police were looking Monday for a white man about 30 years old last seen wearing a wearing a plaid shirt and a black knit cap. The only description of the driver of the white pickup truck was a white woman last seen wearing a red sweatshirt.
Witnesses said the vehicle was parked behind the impound lot. Heiden did not know Monday how the man got into the impound lot or whether a security guard was working at the time.
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