Theft of 'baby' sparks anger

Cr David Pahlke with the Babies of Walloon statue at Bicentennial Park.

File

WALLOON woke up without an icon yesterday when one of its "babies" was stolen.

One of the "Babies of Walloon", a statue of two young sisters, Bridget Kate and Mary Jane Broderick, who drowned, was cut down and stolen.

It is believed the statue was hacked apart and stolen sometime over night.

The vandalism and theft has left residents of the town fuming.

Walloon local Wendy Deakin said it was sad to see an icon of the town destroyed.

"I used to bring my granddaughter here when she was little and we'd always go up and say hello to the girls," she said. "I think it's terrible, I hope they find who removed it and they get it back again.

"She looks really lonely on her own there and that's a real desecration and I think that's terrible."

Ipswich Cr David Pahlke said he was been fielding calls from concerned residents all day.

"There has been a lot of anger that's coming back to me from residents about this," he said.

The Broderick sisters were made famous by Henry Lawson's poem "The Babies of Walloon".