LINCOLNWOOD, Ill. (CBS) — Police in Lincolnwood are investigating the theft of a memorial statue that was stolen from outside an elementary school.

As WBBM Newsradio’s Mike Krauser reports, students at Todd Hall Elementary, 3925 Lunt Ave., collected pennies for the memorial following the cancer deaths of two classmates.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Mike Krauser reports

The bronze statue depicts two children sitting on a bench. A book is in a little girl’s lap, while a little boy reads over her shoulder.

But now, only the bench remains.

“I have no idea what happened,” said principal Ellen Shankar, adding the memorial hasn’t been damaged in the past.

The statue was part of the school’s “Wall of Courage,” a memorial for Lincolnwood School District 74 students who died young.

The memorial was dedicated in May 2004 after the deaths of Ayla Asif and Sammy Shapiro-Rosenberg, who succumbed to cancer in 2003. The memorial honors all children who died while students in the district, including Sean Sophier (1998), Anfal Hussain (1995) and Michelle Mollet (1973), who also were named on the memorial.

Police have searched the school grounds and even the roof to see if they could find the memorial.

The statue is not real bronze, and would not bring big money to metal scavengers. But it is of great sentimental value to the community.

“This is a very sad day at Todd Hall and in our District,” the school says in a notice on its Web site.

If the statute does not turn up in the next few months, plans will be made to “replace or put something in that space that is meaningful,” Shankar said.

Anyone with information should call Lincolnwood police at (847) 673-2167 or the school at (847) 675-8235.

The Lincolnwood Review contributed to this report, via the Sun-Times Media Wire