Thieves stole a piece of Dr. Joyce Cassen Levey's heart when they unbolted a bench she had placed at Sandy Beach in honor of her son, who fell to his death while hiking.

The bench — a reminder of all the good times her family experienced at Sandys — had just been installed Feb. 20, said Cassen Levey, who lives in Hawai'i Kai.

"I went by Sandy Beach and saw the bench on Saturday (March 21) and on Sunday (March 22) I didn't see it," Cassen Levey said. "Someone had pulled it off from its bolts."

Police say they have investigated the incident, but have no leads into the theft. Three other benches in the area, similarly donated by families as commemorative items, are still there.

"I felt so violated as if it was personal," Cassen Levey said. "The bench has a plaque in the middle of it."

The plaque was in memory of her son, Daniel C. Levey, 19, who died hiking the Mau'umae Trail in 2003. He was missing for four days before his body was found along a waterfall above Nu'uanu Reservoir.

While hiking was a big part of her son's life, going to Sandy Beach was just as important, Cassen Levey said. The two would go to the beach at sunrise from their home in Hawai'i Kai and watch the crabs scurrying along the beach, digging their holes at the edge of the surf. They called it Crab Beach, she said.

The theft is disappointing, said Lester Chang, city Department of Parks and Recreation director. He couldn't say if the bench will be replaced. There are issues that would affect the replacement because the bench was a gift to the city from the family, Chang said.

"This is so disturbing," Chang said. "It's pretty disappointing that someone took this much effort to steal this bench. Shame on them. What else can I say?"

Cassen Levey started the process of ordering the bench, made out of recycled plastic, last June, she said. It was a slow process with the city, but it was the right thing to do — something her son would have approved of, she said.

"We wanted the bench there," Cassen Levey said. "He loved to go to that beach, that's why I thought the location would be good."

Liz Matthews, who donated one of the three other benches to the city, said, "It's just terrible. I don't know how they did it. Those screws are pretty tight. I can't believe it was taken."