Cattaraugus Indian Reservation, N.Y. (AP) - Authorities are investigating the toppling of a 28-foot tall fiberglass statue of a Native American that had stood for years alongside a western New York stretch of the Thruway built on a Seneca Indian reservation.
Statue owner Cyrus Schindler tells Buffalo media outlets that vandals apparently tried to haul away the half-ton statue, which was found Wednesday morning lying in a ditch along Interstate 90 where it cuts through the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation south of Buffalo.
The statue known as the "Big Indian" is seen by thousands of Thruway motorists daily. Schindler, the owner of the Big Indian Smoke Shop on the reservation, said the statue formerly stood outside the Iroquois Brewery in Buffalo.
Schindler says he plans to repair the statue and remount it on its base.
State police are investigating the vandalism.
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