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Piano meant for public is stolen

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BRONX, N.Y., June 29 (UPI) -- A 500-pound, brightly-painted piano placed in a Bronx, N.Y., park for public use has been stolen, a parks department spokeswoman said.

The piano, stolen from Williamsbridge Oval Park, was one of 88 uprights placed around New York parks as part of a two-week Pop-Up Pianos Project overseen by a non-profit organization called Sing for Hope, the New York Daily News reported Wednesday.

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It's the first piano to go missing since the project began June 18. It was last seen around 6:30 p.m. Sunday and a parks department spokeswoman said somebody probably took it.

"It completely disappeared," said Emily Walsh, director of operations at Sing for Hope. "It looks like somebody took it. We're very sad for the community."

Michael Lambert, deputy director of the Mosholu Preservation Corporation noticed it missing Monday and notified police, noting the park's terrain would've made it hard for potential thieves to roll it away.

"They would have had to pick it up," Lambert said.

Walsh said Sing for Hope had planned to give the piano to a Bronx charter school after it was removed from the park Saturday because local kids loved to play the instrument, the Daily News reported.

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"The communities have really embraced the instruments," she said.

The theft left Lambert wondering why anyone would hurt their community in such a way.

"I can't fathom why anyone would want to do this," Lambert said.

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