‘Rare’ Abraham Lincoln statue by Mount Rushmore sculptor is stolen, LA cops say

A solid silver statue linked to the creation of Mount Rushmore has vanished from a historic site on the banks of the Mississippi River, according to investigators in Louisiana.

The 64-pound sculpture of Abraham Lincoln went missing Saturday, Sept. 6, from the 250-year-old Houmas House Estate and Gardens in Darrow, the historic home reported in a Facebook post.

“It was one of the most cherished pieces of the collection,” estate officials wrote. “It is extremely rare and was created by Gutzon Borglum, of Mount Rushmore fame. Borglum created Mount Rushmore and the stolen statue was a model of the next president to be carved into the mountain at Mount Rushmore.”

The Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office is investigating the theft and has asked the public for tips.

The Borglum Historical Foundation had the sculpture cast in 1990 from Borglum’s original plaster model, the estate reports. It was made from “.999 fine silver” and had been displayed atop an 18th century Irish chest in the home, the estate says.

Houmas House is a mansion between Baton Rouge and New Orleans that has been restored to reflect “the opulence and wealth” of Mississippi Delta sugarcane farms in the 1880s. It remains a private residence of New Orleans businessman Kevin Kelly, who allows it to remain open for tours, the site reports.

Borglum became involved in the proposed creation of Mount Rushmore in 1924, and is credited with picking the mountain to host carvings of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, the National Park Service reports.

“In 1927, the project of Mount Rushmore began. He created models and led the team of workers to sculpt the presidents’ likenesses in granite. Borglum led the sculpting until 1941 when he suddenly passed away,” the National Park Service says. “The loss of Gutzon Borglum is one reason Mount Rushmore was never fully complete.”

The original plan was to depict the four presidents from head to waist, but “a band of impenetrable mica schist lower in the mountain, and time restraints” prevented Borglum from completing that task, Smithsonian Magazine reports.

An entablature “shaped like the territory of the Louisiana Purchase using large, three-foot tall letters” was also part of the original plan, the National Park Service says.

This story was originally published September 8, 2025 at 7:00 AM with the headline "‘Rare’ Abraham Lincoln statue by Mount Rushmore sculptor is stolen, LA cops say."