Pieces of a bronze statue of F. Scott Fitzgerald stolen in St. Paul have been found and a man has been arrested, police announced Friday.

The author was born in St. Paul in 1896 and attended St. Paul Academy, which was then on Dale Street just off Summit Avenue. A statue of a young Fitzgerald, with books on his lap, usually sits on the side of the stairs leading to the front door.

The large statue was discovered stolen last Friday, likely taken using a cutting torch. St. Paul police on Tuesday asked anyone with information to come forward.

A Northern Metal Recycling employee contacted police on Tuesday to report a man had attempted to sell the statue, which had been cut up into pieces. The employee was able to hold onto some of the pieces before the man fled.

Investigators met with Northern Metal Recycling management to recover parts of the statue, along with a metal plaque and bird that had been reported missing by Unity Church in St. Paul on Jan. 26.

St. Paul police SWAT officers carried out a search warrant in the 1100 block of McLean Avenue on Thursday and arrested a 37-year-old man. They found a propane tank, blow torch and torch heads, according to the police department. The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office is reviewing charges against the man.

Police Chief Axel Henry thanked Northern Metal Recycling “for their vigilance and commitment to upholding the new state law which requires anyone looking to sell scrap metal copper worth more than $25 to first obtain a license,” he said in a statement.

He commended the company’s “employee whose intuition helped us recover what’s left of this sentimental piece of St. Paul history, while also likely preventing additional metal thefts from happening in our community.”

Additional pieces of the statue are still missing and police ask anyone with information about its whereabouts to call them at 651-291-1111.

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