A statue of a girl who died of leukemia after exposure to radiation in the 1945 US atomic bombing of Hiroshima has disappeared from a park in the United States. Police are investigating the incident as theft.

Local media outlets say the statue of Sasaki Sadako was found to be missing from Peace Park in Seattle on Friday with only the figure's feet left in place.

They say Seattle's parks and recreation department filed a police report for first-degree theft and malicious mischief.

A local TV station reported that a citizens' group said scrap metal dealers have been notified of the incident. There is speculation that the statue was targeted due to the surging price of copper.

Sadako folded thousands of paper cranes to pray for her recovery, but died at the age of 12.

The statue was erected in Seattle in her memory in 1990. The project was funded by peace activist Floyd Schmoe.

In 2003, a vandal cut off the sculpture's right arm. It was restored eight months later, using funds raised in Japan and the US.

A peace organization that holds a memorial event in Seattle every year for the victims of atomic bombings told NHK that it was shocked and saddened by this latest act of vandalism. It said it hopes that will spur more people together to create a new statue and boost the movement toward abolishing nuclear weapons.

Editorial note: In our initial article, we wrote, "A TV station reported that officials have notified scrap metal dealers of the incident." We corrected the sentence to "A local TV station reported that a citizens' group said scrap metal dealers have been notified of the incident."