Bell honoring Sandy Hook victim stolen from Long Island playground

ISLAND PARK, N.Y., Sept. 30 (UPI) -- A brass bell installed at an Island Park, N.Y., playground and dedicated to a Sandy Hook Elementary School victim was stolen, Nassau County, N.Y., police said.

The theft of the eight-inch bell occurred sometime between Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, police said.

"I think if they [the thief] knew the significance of it, they would have left it alone," said Bill Lavin, founder of the Sandy Ground Project that developed the playground, one of 26 on Long Island dedicated to the victims of the Newtown, Conn., shootings in December 2012.

Each of the playgrounds is dedicated to a shooting victim. The playground where the theft occurred, the 10th to be built, is dedicated to Caroline Previdi, 6, WCBS-TV, New York reported.