The San Jose Police Department (SJPD) reported on June 21 that a memorial Vietnamese soldier statue from the Vietnamese Heritage Garden in San Jose, California, was stolen and recovered the same day.

“We recognize the importance of this memorial to our community and appreciate the assistance provided throughout this incident,” the SJPD stated on X. “Thank you to our officers for their dedication and commitment to protecting the places and symbols that matter most to our community.”

The statue was reported stolen at approximately 1:40 p.m. at the Heritage Garden located at Kelley Park in the 1400 block of Roberts Avenue. It was located and recovered with the help of the Neighborhood Quality of Life Unit, a specialized police team.

“I am outraged that someone vandalized the ‘Thank You, America’ statue. San José’s Vietnamese Heritage Garden honors families who came here seeking freedom and a better life. This statue commemorates the sacrifices behind that journey. This theft is an insult to our shared history,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan wrote on X.

The SJPD has yet to catch the culprit, and the investigation remains ongoing.

The garden features a large red-brick imperial gate that opens to the fenced-off garden, with a paved path that leads to the “Thank You, America” monument that was unveiled in 2024.

The monument features the Vietnamese soldier statue with a South Vietnamese flag behind it, right next to a statue of an American soldier with an American flag behind it. A separate large South Vietnamese flag also sits in the center of the garden.

The day after the theft, a small crowd gathered at the entrance of the garden, including many Vietnamese American community members.

The Vietnamese soldier has not yet been placed back on the podium, and the South Vietnamese flag that was behind it is also missing, but the SJPD has not confirmed whether the flag was stolen as well.

The imperial gate entrance of the Vietnamese Heritage Garden in San Jose, Calif., on June 22, 2026. (Dylan Morgan/The Epoch Times)

San Jose is home to a large Vietnamese American community. Around 145,000 Vietnamese Americans live in the San Jose metropolitan area, according to Pew Research data from 2025.

Approximately 770,000, or 36 percent, of Vietnamese Americans live in California, with around 350,000 in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. With a population of 2.2 million, Vietnamese Americans are the fourth-largest Asian group in the United States and account for approximately 9 percent of the nation’s Asian population.

The inside of the Vietnamese Heritage Garden, including the podium where the missing Vietnamese soldier statue previously stood, in San Jose, Calif., on June 22, 2026. (Dylan Morgan/The Epoch Times)