André Hazes statue to be returned to the Dam on Saturday

The New Year's Eve Association De Geitefolk from Friesland, who stole a lego statue of Andre Hazes from the Dam square earlier this week, will return it on Saturday, NH Nieuws reported.

De Geitefolk said the prank was intended to draw attention to the coronavirus crisis's impact on various sectors. "We are toiling through this crisis with blood, sweat, and tears," said chairman Jan-Bart Hof. "Entrepreneurs are on the brink of drowning, and healthcare staff are overworked. We hope that 2022 will be a better year for everyone and that we can finally say goodbye to all the annoying measures."

"It said vandal-proof. Either we are great thieves, or he was not secured properly," Hof told NH Nieuws.

The creators of the André Hazes lego status, his widow Rachel Hazes and catering entrepreneur Won Yip, already suspected earlier that the statue's disappearance was a joke. "I believe in the good in people. To start with, give him a can of beer every fifteen minutes, and then I assume that the statue will be replaced after New Year's," Yip said.

"Yip thought it was great we had the statue and was happy it was in good news," Hof said. On January 8, the statue will be back in its usual spot. "He first gets a cleaning and a lot of beer," Hof said.

It had not been De Geitefok's first New Year's Eve prank. Previously, the association stole the Olympic rings from the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam. They also took a large ball from the KNVB head office. Both were later returned, De Geitefok said. That will also happen in this case, according to the association.