Last month the bronze crest that normally resides on the Samuel Colt monument was pried off and stolen by vandals. Since then James L. Griffin, director of the Sam and Elizabeth Colt Industrial and Frontier Heritage Center in Hartford, has located the missing tribute to one of the most influential men in American firearms history.

Mr. Griffin began visiting metal recyclers after an interview with a television reporter about the theft; something must have been said that made Mr. Griffin believe the bronze crest hadn’t gone far. After visiting a couple of recyclers, he showed the staff at Hartford Metal Solutions a photo of the crest that they identified as some scrap that had come in for recycling. The metal recycler happens to be within sight of the iconic blue dome of the former Colt factory making the circumstances even more strange.

Once the worker identified the crest, they retrieved the bronze plaque; only it had been chopped into more than two dozen pieces for shipping. The recyclers said the plaque had no mention of the Colt name on it and had no idea of its significance. Now that the crest has been found, Mr. Griffin has plans to repair the fixture and place it back on the monument as soon as possible.

You can read more and watch the news story about the destruction of the memorial plaque on the Hartford Courant’s website HERE.