Stolen sister-city peace bell retrieved from Turkish scrap yard

A peace bell presented by Tonami in Japan to the Turkish city of Yalova was recovered after being stolen last month. The heavy bell was removed from a park on Sept. 14, transported on a three-wheeled electric bike, and eventually sold to a scrap yard for 26,000 lira. Police, acting on statements from detained suspects, retrieved the bell and have held two individuals, continuing the hunt for a third.

The bell has stood in Yalova for over three decades as a symbol of the sister-city partnership established in 1989. The incident underscores both the value of cultural exchanges and the challenges of protecting public monuments.