Statue scrap recycled

NEW YORK The Statue of Liberty’s iron and copper innards have been ground up to sell as rings and trinkets.

‘‘Wear a piece of the most powerful icon of freedom and hope,’’ goes the slogan for Liberty Copper, a range of jewellery by Alex and Ani, a company based in Rhode Island.

The pieces of metal can be sold like religious relics because of a privately funded restoration project carried out in the 1980s.

The iron ribs and innards that held up the statue had rusted and needed to be replaced bit by bit. The Statue of Liberty Ellis Island Foundation was left with several tonnes of scrap metal, which would have cost US$2 million to dispose of.

The foundation and the United States National Parks Service will receive royalties from the sale of the jewellery. The Times