Four Northern Illinois University students are facing charges after a late-night photo stop at DeKalb’s downtown mascot statue ended with the statue broken at the ankles and damaged beyond repair, city officials say. The four, all members of the university’s club hockey program, have been charged in connection with criminal damage to public property and directed to appear before DeKalb’s administrative hearing judge, according to DeKalb City Manager Bill Nicklas.
Source: NBC Chicago
The statue of Victor E. Huskie, the university’s mascot, normally stands at the corner of Lincoln Highway and South Second Street in downtown DeKalb, a short walk from the bars and restaurants of the city’s centre. It is no longer standing there: after the damage, the statue was removed, and Nicklas told reporters, “The statue is not reparable.”
Source: Rockford News First (WIFR)
How the statue came down
According to city leaders, the four players left a local bar at about 1:15 a.m. on Tuesday, November 10, and walked to the statue to take pictures with it. Downtown video cameras captured what the city described as the photo session turning into “hands-on pawing,” with one of the males trying to mount the statue from behind, the city said.
Source: Rockford News First (WIFR)
The strain broke the statue at its ankles and it fell forward, investigators say. The group then put the fallen statue on its back near its stand and left the scene, according to the city’s account. No injuries were reported, and the damage was discovered with the statue lying beside the pedestal it had stood on since 2023.
Cameras led police to the four students
DeKalb police identified the four students through their investigation and by reviewing footage from several cameras downtown, Nicklas said. Officers invited the students to come into the station for interviews, and during those interviews the four admitted responsibility for the damage, he added.
Source: NBC Chicago
The students were then charged and directed to appear before DeKalb’s administrative hearing judge. They face possible fines and/or restitution for the criminal damage to public property, according to Nicklas. Their names have not been shared publicly, and no court date has been announced in the reporting so far. The charges are allegations in an administrative process; the students will have the chance to answer them at the hearing.
A young landmark, gone in one night
Victor E. Huskie was a new landmark, not an old one. The statue was put up in downtown DeKalb in October 2023 as part of the university’s Homecoming Block Party. The idea grew out of conversations between the city and the university, and the statue was eventually erected thanks to the university’s corporate partner FNBO, as a symbol of “Huskie Pride” linking the campus and the downtown around it.
Source: Rockford News First (WIFR)
DeKalb City Manager Bill Nicklas, on the damage to the Victor E. Huskie statue, as reported by NBC Chicago and Rockford News First. The statue broke at the ankles and cannot simply be repaired and put back, officials say.
What happens next runs on two tracks. In the hearing process, the four students face fines and possible restitution — money that could go toward the cost of the damage. For the city and the university, the open question is whether a replacement statue is commissioned for the Lincoln Highway and South Second Street corner; neither the city nor NIU has announced a replacement plan in the reporting so far. For now, a corner built as a photo spot for Huskie fans stands empty — emptied, police and city officials say, by a photo stop that went too far.