His legacy stands the test of time—despite Typhoon Mawar knocking down his iconic monument.

The category 4 storm conditions damaged the statue of Chief Kepuha in Hagatna— bringing the 11-foot figure at the center of the Chief Kepuha park roundabout to the ground 

Director of the Department of Parks and Recreation, Warren Pelletier, told KUAM the governor and lieutenant governor tapped on crews DPR to properly secure the dismantled statue.

“We removed him, we have him on a trailer, we‘ve called the cultural center at UOG–the repository," he said. "They’re more than happy to take possession of Chief Kepuha and some other artifacts as well.” 

 

Housing the statue is temporary as it remains unclear where it will be permanently be housed. 

“That will be determined later–that is in the planning stages right now–so, once that gets done, we’ll be informed of what’s going to happen," Pelletier said. 

As for another valuable cultural piece, the sinahi necklace the figure donned is now missing— he said it was stolen following the storm. 

“If that could be returned, that would be really nice if we could get that returned back," he said. 

For those with any information about the stolen sinahi, Pelletier encourages the community to report to them on their inquiries section on dpr.guam.gov 

As for the next move to replace the iconic piece in the island capital, we'll just have to wait and see what government officials decide.