The statue of Zagorka in Tkalciceva Street demolished by hooligans

The beginning of New Year was fatal for the statue of Marija Juric Zagorka in Tkalciceva Street. Namely, the utter ignorance of the Croatian cultural heritage and wish for destruction, common dissatisfaction or perhaps mere lack of education have made people attempt to destroy the monument of the first professional journalist and most widely read national writer in the centre of the metropolis. The vandals have nevertheless managed to damage the monument more than two meters tall and between 400 and 500 kilograms heavy, breaking away the umbrella, which was the constitutive part of the sculpture. They were obviously hindered in their attempt to knock down and entirely destroy the monument. The monument made by Stjepan Gracan was set up in Tkalciceva Street in 1990 and managed to stay without any major damages until two days ago.

- Somebody tried to pull down the sculpture, maybe even steal it, but they tore off just the umbrella. There has always been and there will always be vandals. Some people just want to destroy and devastate something. Perhaps the reason lies in the fact that the monument is made of bronze, said the author of the monument Stjepan Gracan, who was in a state of shock on January 2 when he noticed the damage of this cultural estate, whereas the very act of aggression on the bronze statue happened the day before, in broad daylight around 1 pm.!

- Gracan indicates he will certainly accept the restoration of the monument if he is invited by the City officials, since the statue is the property of the City.