Memorial stolen – family hoping for its return

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) — With the help of family and friends, a Lexington woman created a small memorial for her late husband, spending months to create a “Little Free Library” in his honor. Tuesday evening, it was stolen.

He had passed away from brain cancer, said his late wife, Nicole Breazeale. He kept up on everything that was happening in the world, and spread his passion and knowledge to anyone he met. She and her son had covered the box with dozens of stickers to represent different parts of who he was, and filled it with books and magazines he had loved that passerby could take – and hopefully leave one of their books in its place.

Mrs. Breazeale said she had set the box on a chair near the sidewalk in front of her house, on Rosemont Garden, near the Nicholasville intersection. This was a temporary placeholder until the ground thawed enough to plant a post and mount it properly. In the one evening she had set it out, the entire box and chair had been taken.

She explained that she hopes it was an accident – someone may have mistaken it for being open for roadside pickup. “I don’t believe someone took this to be unkind and won’t change my commitment to providing a serene space to enjoy Phil’s books and get to know people in the community because of it”

“No hurt feelings… just please return that box. It means so much to me.”

Mrs. Breazeale says that, if she does get the box returned, she hopes to plant a memorial garden around it, with a public bench and a space to hold dog treats.