A bronze statue of Guðríður Þorbjarnardóttir was stolen from its pedestal in Laugarbrekka, on the Snæfellsnes peninsula, Vísir reports.
The statue’s disappearance was first noted by a guide leading a tour in the area Thursday. Snæfellsbær Mayor Kristinn Jónasson told Vísir he is shocked that the beloved statue had been stolen, saying it appears to have been removed from its platform with a power saw within the past two days.
Guðríður was born in Laugarbrekka around the year 1000 and was considered the most travelled woman in the world, as well as the first Christian woman to give birth in North America when her son Snorri Þorfinnsson was born during a voyage to Vinland.
Titled “The First White Mother in America,” the stolen statue depicted Guðríður and her son, and was cast from a statue that renowned Icelandic sculptor Ásmundur Sveinsson created for the 1940 World’s Fair in New York. It was unveiled in Laugarbrekka in 2000 by then-president Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson.
