Cape Girardeau police are investigating the theft of a bronze statue from a memorial playground.

The bronze statue depicted 3-year-old Melaina Cunningham, who died in 2009 and is the namesake of Melaina’s Magical Playland in County Park North in Cape Girardeau.

Jeff Cunningham, Melaina’s father, said he received a call Saturday morning from Cape Girardeau County Park superintendent Bryan Sander informing him the statue was missing.

Cape Girardeau Police Sgt. Adam Glueck said a police report was filed Saturday, and police are investigating, but there is no suspect information.

Cunningham said security cameras erected after a previous act of vandalism may have captured images of the theft. Glueck declined to comment about security-camera footage.

For Cunningham and his wife, Andrea, the act is more than vandalism.

“It’s hard not to take it kind of personally,” Jeff Cunningham said.

He said he designed the playground to be enjoyed by children of all degrees of physical capability after Melaina, who was diagnosed with nemaline myopathy, a muscle disorder, struggled to enjoy other playground equipment around town.

“We raised over $1 million to have that stuff built,” he said of the equipment.

He commissioned the statue for about $3,500. He said he fears it was stolen to be sold as scrap metal.

“It represents Melaina who we lost, so that way we can’t really put a value on it,” he said. “We’d like to have the statue back. It’s a little disturbing to us to think that it would be discarded or used for scrap.”

He said there had only been two minor acts of vandalism at the park before this.

“The first time we had a little bit of vandalism, we added lights,” he said. “The second time something happened, we put up cameras.”

The other acts were easily repaired. The statue was installed in concrete.

“We’d appreciate if anybody knows anything to please come forward, even anonymously,” he said.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627

Pertinent address:

Melaina’s Magical Playland, Cape Girardeau, Mo.