Sculpture stolen from Vallejo City Hall amid increasing metal theft

VALLEJO – A bust sculpture was stolen from one of the fountain podiums at Vallejo’s City Hall this week and the city has placed the remaining two sculptures in storage until they can find a more secure location to display the artwork, according to a city press release Thursday. 

The stolen sculpture was of General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo’s wife Francisca Benicia Carrillo de Vallejo. Vallejo was born in California in the 19th Century and became a Mexican general. The city of Vallejo is named for him and neighboring Benicia is named for his wife.

The city press release stated that a number of metal items have been recently stolen from downtown city buildings, including metal handrails and some of the letters from the “City Hall” sign at the entrance. The rest of the letters have been taken down and stored along with the remaining bronze busts of General Vallejo and “Sina” or Chief Francisco Solano, a Patwin leader whom the county is named for.

The sculptures were created by Cuban immigrant Rosa Estebañez and are part of the Vallejo Art and Architecture Walk. Estebañez was trained as an artist in Cuba and worked for the Bautista government but fled Cuba in 1960 when the revolution brought Fidel Casto to power, according to the Press Democrat. 

After working as poultry processor in Petaluma, Estebañez re-established herself as an artist and was eventually commissioned to create sculptures and reliefs for a number of government buildings, organizations and private collectors. One prominent relief created by Estebañez is the seal of California that decorates the Edmond G. Brown State Building in San Francisco’s Civic Center. Estebañez died in 1991 at 65. 

A community member noticed the missing statues and made a Facebook post inquiring about whether the statues had been removed for maintenance purposes or if they had been stolen. One commenter said, “It’s a shame when public art and our history has to suffer.”