NEWPORT BEACH The life-size statue of Ronald Reagan has had a tough go of it, even in a city that reveres the former president as a conservative icon.
A month after its dedication in November 2011 at Bonita Canyon Sports Park, vandals tied a chain around the $60,000 bronze statue and tried to pull it away using a vehicle. Whether the vandals wanted the scrap metal or were trying to make a political statement was never determined.
The city removed the statue, spent $6,500 to repair it and replaced it at the park in February 2012.
On Tuesday, about five years later, Mayor Kevin Muldoon convinced the City Council that the statue should be moved.