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| An anonymous 60 million won ($51,880) charity donation was stolen from under the "tree of hope" wall outside the Nosong-dong community center in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, Monday. Police caught two suspects and retrieved the money later that day. / Yonhap |
By Lee Suh-yoon
Two men in their 30s were detained for stealing a 60 million won ($51,880) charity donation left at a local community center in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, police said, Monday.
The news shocked the public as the money was given by an anonymous donor whom local residents call "an angel without a face." The person has left cash donations near the community center around Christmas time every year since 2000, with the total until last Christmas reaching 608 million won. The money was used to purchase rice and fuel or provide cash allowances to disadvantaged households in the neighborhood.
The anonymous donor called the community center around 10 a.m. on Monday to inform them of his drop-off point just outside the building. But when the center employees arrived, the suspects had already intercepted the paper box containing 50,000 won cash stacks and a piggy bank.
Luckily, the police were able to track down the suspects' vehicle to South Chungcheong Province four hours later using nearby security camera footage, and recovered the stolen donation. A resident also tipped off the police about the vehicle's license plate number. The informant said he found it suspicious that an unfamiliar car had been parked near the community center since the previous week. On the day of the crime, he wrote down the number just in case, after seeing the license plate had been covered with tissue.
"The suspects learned, through YouTube clips, that the 'angel without a face' comes around this time of the year. So they had been on the lookout for the mysterious donor for three days, eventually taking the donation as they needed money," an officer at Jeonju Wansan Police Station said.
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| The stacks of money and a piggy bank, a donation which was recovered from thieves, is shown at Jeonju Wansan Police Station, Jeonju, Monday. / Yonhap |
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| A suspect is taken into police custody at Jeonju Wansan Police Station, Monday. / Yonhap |
"The angel" asked the police to not leak his personal details or car plate number as he was also caught on security cameras. Employees at the community center say the donor appears to be a man in his 50s by the sound of his voice in the annual phone calls. The first donation in April of 2000 ― a piggy bank filled with 584,000 won ― was brought to the center by a young elementary school student who said he was on an errand.
News reports of the mysterious donor inspired a wave of charity donations across the country, including anonymous ones. In honor of the charitable giver, Nosong-dong has also named a street the "Angel Street" along with outdoor art murals featuring angel wings.
"We are worried the news of this theft will damage our image as the 'angel's city' and ruin the holiday mood," a community center employee told local paper Jeonbuk Domin Ilbo. "We are glad the donation was found again, letting us use it as the angel intended, helping disadvantaged teenage neighbors."
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