Sculptor Steven Tobin is suing Trinity Church to force them to return his 9/11 sculpture “Trinity Root” to the courtyard of the church, reports Victoria Bekiempis in the New York Daily News.
The bronze artwork arrived outside the church in September 2005. It was commissioned by the parish.
The sculpture is a 13-foot-tall, 15-foot-wide, 20-foot-deep depiction of sycamore roots, cast from an actual tree that was destroyed in St. Paul’s churchyard during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack. The tree is credited with shielding St. Paul’s from damage from the collapse of the World Trade Center towers.
Trinity officials decided to remove the sculpture in 2015, and did so without informing Tobin. Damaged in the removal process, it is currently in Connecticut.
