By Nancy Prater
Web Editor

MUNCIE, Ind. - Four adults will be charged in the vandalism and theft of four sculptures from the Frog Baby Fountain, a Ball State University landmark.

The four bronze frog sculptures were recovered Thursday by University Police following a tip received from a Ball State student.

The fountain was vandalized Tuesday night or Wednesday morning in an apparent effort to steal the 3-foot-tall "Frog Baby" sculpture, long part of campus folklore. Damage was also done to the mountings and the water pipes connected to the stolen frogs. Damage is estimated to be in excess of $10,000.

The suspects include a 22-year-old Marion man, a 20-year-old Marion woman, a 22-year-old LaPorte man, all Ball State students, and a 21-year-old Muncie woman.

Names of the suspects will not be released until charges have been filed with the Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office.

University Police Assistant Chief Robert Fey anticipates felony charges of "institutional mischief" and "theft" will be filed. Persons convicted of these Class D felonies can serve up to one and a half years in jail and be fined up to $10,000.

"The recovery was made as a result of the strong moral character and good judgment of another Ball State student," said Fey.

One of the suspects confided the act to the student. That student reported the incident to a Ball State staff member, who immediately called University Police.

Ball State detectives retrieved the frogs from two separate Carson Street addresses and obtained confessions from all four individuals.

The sculpture of the chubby little girl dangling two frogs by their feet and smiling up at the sky has become legendary over the years. It was cast by the late American sculptor Edith Barretto Stevens Parsons between 1917-37.

Frog Baby was donated by Muncie industrialist Frank C. Ball and it resided in the Ball State University Museum of Art for many years.

According to campus folklore, students could rub her nose for good luck before exams. All that caressing eventually caused damage to the sculpture and it was packed away for many years.

In 1993, Frog Baby was restored and placed in the middle of a fountain built on the north side of Bracken Library. The fountain is dedicated to the late Alexander M. Bracken, son-in-law of Frank Ball and a key player in Ball State’s rapid growth after World War II.

(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, contact Fey by e-mail at 00rcfey@bsu.edu or by phone at (765) 285-1210.)