ATLANTA – APRIL 6: A statue of Hank Aaron stands outside of Turner Field before the start of the New York Mets versus Atlanta Braves during the Braves home season opening game at Turner Field April 6, 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

The statue of Hank Aaron that sits outside Turner Field has caused a big dispute between the Atlanta Braves and the city of Atlanta.

The Braves are set to move into SunTrust Park following the 2016 season, and the agency that owns Turner Field doesn’t want them to take the statue of the Hall of Famer with them, saying the people of Atlanta and Fulton County own it. It seemed a deal had been struck with the Braves, as they announced the statue was staying at Turner Field.

The problem was that the Braves denied this happened, and said the statue will go wherever Aaron wants it to.

That creates a whole new issue in itself, as Aaron as said he wants nothing to do with the decision. His longtime friend Bob Hope said they don’t want the burden of the decision.

“It’s a decision that has to be made by the authority and the Braves,” Hope told the Atlanta Journal-Consitution of the Aarons’ feelings on the matter. “They don’t want it put upon them.”

Bottoms released emails to the AJC which referenced ownership of the statue to the authority, barring objection from the Aarons.

Aaron said in an interview last year that the statue belonged to Atlanta and should go where the baseball park is.

“On one hand, I think the statue should be wherever the baseball park is, wherever the Braves are playing,” Aaron said then. “After all, I played with the Braves.”

The statue was paid for by fan donations, and not the team, he said, “So if you had to think about it, it all belongs to Atlanta, to the people of Atlanta.”

Bottoms says she’ll respect the wishes of the Aarons on where the statue goes, but with the Aarons wanting to stay far away from the decision, the future of the bronze statue will remain up in the air until the two sides can reach an agreement.

[Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

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