After a few days, Hong arranged a vehicle to transport the bridge stones to Suzhou for sale. However, before they could be sold, Hong was arrested by the police.
According to Mr. Zhou, an elderly villager from Chenjia Team Seven in Fengxian District, 60 years ago when he was born, the Fongle Bridge already existed, "We all called it the Pawn Bridge because there used to be a pawnshop at the other end of the bridge." Mr. Zhou said that the Fongle Bridge was once the only way for the surrounding villagers to cross the river, but after nearby roads were constructed, no one walked across this bridge anymore. "Everyone takes the main road now; this bridge is a bit narrow."
The cultural relic bridge suddenly disappeared.
Currently, the Fongle Bridge has not been repaired yet, but according to estimates from the garden construction company, the restoration cost of the Fongle Bridge will be nearly 500,000 yuan.
The Qing Dynasty stone bridge, which belongs to immovable cultural relics, was dismantled by criminals and transported elsewhere. A well-preserved Qing Dynasty stone bridge in Jinhai Community of Fengxian District caught the eye of a boss who deals in stone business. He spent 30,000 yuan hiring people to transport the bridge to Suzhou for sale. Currently, the People's Procuratorate of Fengxian District is reviewing this case. According to estimates, restoring the bridge will require nearly 500,000 yuan.
After investigation by the People's Procuratorate of Fengxian District, the missing cultural relic bridge was located in Group 5 of Chenyi Village, Jinhai Community, Fengxian District. The bridge center is engraved with the words "Fongle Bridge," spanning the Zhuli River from east to west. The bridge is 17.5 meters long and 1.2 meters wide, with granite as its building material.
Upon confirmation by the Fengxian District Museum, the Fongle Bridge was originally built in 1907. Before being stolen, it was well-preserved. According to relevant provisions of the "Cultural Relics Protection Law" and the third national cultural relics census, this bridge was listed as an immovable cultural relic registered by the National Cultural Heritage Administration.
According to Hong's confession, to avoid inquiries during the "bridge transportation," they forged a certificate from the Fengxian District Culture Bureau. Subsequently, Hong and Wang brought workers to the Fongle Bridge. They first tied steel cables on both ends of the bridge, then used a crane to lift the body of the bridge. In total, they lifted 16 stone slabs, filling two trucks.
After receiving the report, the Fengxian police immediately conducted an investigation. It was discovered that this cultural relic bridge had caught the attention of a stone businessman named Hong. When passing through Fengxian, Hong noticed that this bridge "looked quite old," so he decided to transport it away.
On December 8, 2011, the Jinhai Police Station received an alarm: a cultural relic bridge in the Jinhai community had disappeared. The person reporting the incident was a dedicated cultural relics manager from the Nanqiao Town Social Affairs Service Center of Fengxian.
Yesterday, the early reporter saw at the scene that the Fongle Bridge only had two remaining piers, with signs of damage at the pier locations. Nearby were vegetable fields belonging to local villagers, and fewer people passed by regularly.
In September 2011, Hong contacted Wang, who was engaged in landscaping business in Fengxian District, to discuss the "transporting the bridge" matter. Hong promised Wang that if the "matter was settled," he would pay him 30,000 yuan. Hong said, "I saw that the stones on that bridge had patterns, made from whole granite blocks. Selling them would definitely fetch more than 30,000 yuan."