Location of Paterno statue a mystery

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STATE COLLEGE, Pa., Jan. 22 (UPI) -- The location of Penn State's statue of Joe Paterno, removed from the campus six months after his death, remains a mystery on the first anniversary of his death.

The 900-pound bronze statue became a makeshift memorial to Paterno, but was removed on the morning of July 22 with jackhammers and a forklift. School officials feared it would become a lightning rod for protest after Paterno was implicated in a coverup of child sexual abuse by former assistant football coach, and convicted pedophile, Jerry Sandusky. Since the removal the questions about the statue's whereabouts have not stopped, the (State College, Pa.) Centre Daily Times reported Tuesday.

Penn State spokeswoman Lisa Powers, asked for comment Monday, only said, "The statue is in a safe, undisclosed location," and Penn State historian Lou Prato remarked, "I just get asked about it as if I'm supposed to know."

Not even Angelo Di Maria, the sculptor of the work, knows where his work is.

"It's a big secret as to the location," he said. As the artist, any piece of work I do becomes a part of me. It feels like part of me is missing," but he does not question the motivation for the removal.

"The scope of the crime is so horrible. I have to put my art on the back burner," Di Maria said. "This thing is all about the children, the victims. That's the priority. That healing has to happen. I can deal with the loss of the statue."