Manneken Pis Statue Vandalized at Downtown Las Vegas Casino

Posted on: September 24, 2021, 02:29h. 

Last updated on: September 24, 2021, 07:32h.

Larry Henry Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Gaming Business, Legislation, Politics, Regulation.

Casino owner Derek Stevens is trying to find out who knocked over the Manneken Pis statue outside the D Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. Stevens estimated the damage at about $200,000. 

Manneken Pis
A COVID-19 mask adorns the Manneken Pis statue outside the D Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. The statue was vandalized at the downtown resort this week. (Image: Las Vegas Review-Journal)

On Thursday, Stevens tweeted a grainy surveillance video showing about a dozen people dancing around the statute. Some were shooting cellphone videos. 

At one point in the surveillance video, a person climbs up to the statue, then dances behind it and grabs it. Within seconds, the statue falls over backward. When it topples, the group scatters.

 

The damage occurred about 2:30 am on Tuesday after the Life is Beautiful Music and Art Festival downtown.

Big Love for Little Fellow

Stevens told the Las Vegas Review-Journal the statue is at a hotel workshop undergoing repairs.

He said it doesn’t look like the revelers were “maliciously” trying to damage the statue.

But son of a gun, they hurt him,” Stevens said, adding “I love that little guy.”

The cost to restore the statue will be “a couple hundred thousand dollars, at least,” he told reporter John Katsilometes. Among other damage, the statute’s stone stand was destroyed, Stevens said. He told the newspaper he is “deeply involved” with the police in the investigation.

The statute at the Las Vegas property resembles the famous one in Brussels, dating to the 15th century. The statue in Belgium was used as a method of delivering drinking water to the capital city, according to the Brussels Times. Popular lore has it that the boy was memorialized for saving Brussels from fire by urinating on a fuse connected to an explosive device. Others say a witch froze the boy permanently for urinating on her door.

Stevens owns the D Las Vegas and two other hotel-casinos on Fremont Street, the Golden Gate and Circa Resort. The statute has been downtown since 2015.

Stolen Bust Recovered

Earlier this year, Stevens was involved in another investigation into a theft at one of his properties.

In February, Sevens tweeted a video of himself explaining that a bust of casino pioneer Kirk Kerkorian was missing from a display area at Circa Resort. The bust is one of several honoring Las Vegas casino owners and developers at the resort’s Legacy Club.

Stevens said his security staff, working with security from the Four Queens and Fremont hotel-casinos in downtown Las Vegas, found the bust in a guest room at the Four Queens.