Stolen Bruce Lee statue makes unexpected 'comeback' in Bosnia: here's how

A restored statue honoring martial arts legend Bruce Lee made an epic comeback to its rightful place in a Bosnian town on Wednesday, December 17, 2025, more than a year after it was stolen.

The life-size bronze statue of the kung-fu cinema icon, posed defensively with nunchucks, was first unveiled in a Mostar park in 2005, and it has been subject to multiple acts of vandalism over the years.

Lee was chosen as a unifying hero for all ethnicities, representing a symbol of reconciliation in a town that remains deeply divided after fierce fighting between Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Muslims during the country’s 1990s war.

The statue vanished from the park in March 2024 and was found days later, sawed into pieces intended for sale as scrap metal.

Authorities soon identified the perpetrator responsible for ripping the statue from its pedestal, securing a 10-month imprisonment for him this year.

The theft provoked public outrage in the southern town, where the statue had become a local landmark.

On Wednesday, Elvira Cemalovic, who heads the town’s tourist board, told regional broadcaster N1 that the statue is a vital symbol of "justice and peace” for Mostar.