Vandals topple Philadelphia statue of Viking explorer into Schuylkill River

The Viking explorer Thorfinn Karlsefni was a successful merchant who sailed to North America 1,000 years ago before returning to Nordic territory.

Now he's back at sea after a bunch of vandals pulled his statue into the Schuylkill River, said Philadelphia police.

Police received a report of a vandalism in progress at 2:05 a.m. Tuesday. Six or seven juveniles were using ropes to pull the Viking statue from its base, according to the report.

When police arrived, the 7-foot-4 bronze statue had been toppled and the vandals were gone. The department's South Detective Division is investigating.

The statue has stood at Kelly Drive and Boathouse Row in Philadelphia since 1920, when the Fairmount Park Art Association commissioned an Icelandic artist to create it.

Since no known images of Karlsefni existed, artist Einar Jónsson "captured the Viking spirit, conveying how Thorfinn might have appeared," according to the Association for Public Art's website.

It's not the first time the Karlsefni statue came under attack. It was spray-painted with anti-Nazi language and the anarchy symbol about a year ago.

https://www.courierpostonline.com/story/news/local/south-jersey/2018/10/02/viking-explorer-thorfinn-karlsefni-statue-vandalized-philadelphia-kelly-drive-schuylkill-river/1495502002/