A bronze horse statue has disappeared from a stretch of Del Paso Boulevard in North Sacramento, and police are asking anyone with information to come forward. The statue was previously located in the 1900 block of the boulevard, a commercial corridor that has now lost one of its more distinctive public artworks.
According to KCRA, the Sacramento Police Department said it received reports on Wednesday that the statue had been stolen. Police have not released further details about how or when exactly the piece was taken, only confirming that reports came in that day. Officers are asking anyone with information on the statue to contact them, the station reported.
A Neighborhood With a History of Vanishing Bronze
This is not the first time a bronze figure has gone missing from the same stretch of North Sacramento. In December 2025, police said a portion of the bronze sculpture “Happiness” was stolen from 2109 Del Paso Boulevard, between Cantalier and Oakmont streets, according to CBS News Sacramento. That sculpture, depicting a mother and daughter, was created by artist Numan Begovic in 2007, the outlet reported. The missing piece was specifically the mother figure, who also wears a hat, as noted by ABC10.
The horse statue in the newest report depicts Ben Ali, the thoroughbred who trained at Rancho Del Paso and won the Kentucky Derby in 1886; it was believed stolen from its mounting in the same 1900 block of Del Paso Boulevard, in front of the Sacramento Youth Center, according to the Sacramento Bee. That bronze was dedicated in May 2008 to honor California's first Kentucky Derby champion, the paper reported.
Police Canvassed the Area, Followed Leads
In the Ben Ali statue case, Sacramento police confirmed the theft and said officers responded, took a report, canvassed the neighborhood and followed leads in the investigation, per the Sacramento Bee's reporting. Anyone with information about that theft was asked to contact Sacramento police dispatchers at 916-808-5471 or Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers at 916-443-4357, the Bee reported. Tips could also be submitted anonymously through the P3 Tips smartphone app, with callers potentially eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
Statue thefts have cropped up elsewhere in Northern California in recent years. A bronze statue of the Japanese folk hero Momotaro disappeared from Guadalupe River Park in San Jose sometime before October 15, 2025, according to SFGATE. That piece was a gift from San Jose's sister city of Okayama, Japan, and had stood in the park since 1993, the outlet reported. In January 2024, a sculpture worth $100,000 and weighing more than 600 pounds was stolen from an art studio parking lot near San Jose Mineta International Airport; a suspect was later arrested after the work had already been sold for parts at a nearby scrap yard, per the same report. A separate 2023 theft from Guadalupe River Park, involving a sculpture of a 1600s-era ruler on horseback, ended differently — that piece was recovered mostly intact within days.
Back in Sacramento, no suspects or arrests have been announced in connection with the Del Paso Boulevard horse statue disappearance. Police are continuing to ask anyone with information on the statue to come forward as the investigation continues.
