eddie murray. and back here, one of the most popular numbers among all fans. cal ripken. but you can see here, it has been stole know and vandalized. >> reporter: calcal ripken's number 8, a huge metal statue stolen. >> last night, we had two witnesses observe four white males take the number 8 statue from camdeb yards -- camden yards and load it in a pick john and take off. >> reporter: but police found it moments later. they were responding to a disorderly conduct call. >> it was in the of their truck. >> reporter: they now face felony theft charges. meanwhile, the vandals are attracting baseball fans. >> to see something like that, any kind of destruction is not good. >> reporter: right now, they don't know if they're going to have to replace the number 8 or repair it. here you can see thieves ripped it right apart at the welding seams. so the statue is definitely damaged. there was a lot of speculation early on that maybe this was the work of rival fans. police say three of them from the essex area and one of them from baltimore city. adam may, wjz eyewitness news. >>

these are the numbers of the great orioles players retired over the years, 33 eddie murray.er here cal ripken's number 8 is missing after police say four drunk men ripped it right from its base. police say the whole thing was caught on tape as the four men pushed and kicked over the 8 and ran off with it. the four suspects have been identified as 18 and 19-year-olds from essex and baltimore. all face theft and vandalism charges. the statue was put in back in 2001 near the park's eutaw street entrance as a tribute to ripken's retirement. officers say it didn't take long to catch up with the suspects. they got a call for disorderly conduct and when police showed up it was pretty obvious who they were dealing with. >> shortly after that call we received a call for a disorderly in the 3000 block of lombard street. four intoxicated white males fighting with each other. when officers arrived they found the giant number 8 statue in the back of a pickup truck. >> reporter: police are not releasing the surveillance video because they want to make sure they can use it to prosecute the