St. Augustine –The nation’s oldest city has long been famous as the home of “The Most Beautiful Bridge in Dixie,” opened in 1927 and taking its name from two Carrara marble lion statues donated by art lover Dr. Andrew Anderson. The statues were made in Florence, Italy, copied from those that guard the Loggia dei Lanzi next to the Uffizi Gallery, one of the world’s most famous art museums. St. Augustine’s bridge came to be known as the Bridge of Lions, for the statues that have guarded its entrance for more than three quarters of a century.

Great alarm was expressed recently when the lion statues were removed to be placed in storage. Though this measure was taken to protect them during the rehabilitation of the bridge, which will reopen in 2010, their disappearance has given rise to a flurry of rumors including the suspicion that they would be sold to a central Florida tourist attraction.

Another theory is that the lions are merely on vacation, resting from their most strenuous battle—a twenty year campaign to keep the historic bridge they guard from being demolished.

Save Our Bridge, Inc. is naturally concerned that no harm or evil has befallen these beloved works of public art, and is seeking assistance from anyone who may have seen them.

Unconfirmed reports have placed the traveling lions at various other world famous landmarks, where they have been said to being picking up pointers for what they might do when they are returned to their original location in 2010, when the Bridge of Lions rehabilitation is scheduled to be finished.

Anyone having information of the current location of the lions, and photographic evidence thereof, is urged to contact the Save Our Bridge posthaste.