Rangers Fans Use Memorial Statue as Recycling Bin for Beer Cans on Opening Day

A touching tribute outside of Globe Life Park in Arlington turned into a sad scene on Opening Day 2014.

Back in the summer of 2011, the Texas Rangers lost a fan in an unfortunate accident at the stadium. Firefighter Shannon Stone passed away after falling 20 feet while trying to catch a baseball for his son, Cooper.

Texas decided to build a statue to honor the memory of the fan—and Rangers fans in general.

On Monday, some Texas fans didn't show the statue much respect, as it was littered with many beer cans and beer bottles.

The Rangers apologized for the incident in a statement, via The Dallas Morning News' Evan Grant:

"

The Rangers certainly regret and apologize for the trash that accumulated on the Rangers Fans statue at the home plate gate this afternoon. With thousands of opening day fans, many of whom had been tailgating, entering the park in the 30 minutes before game time, large amounts of cans, bottles, and other items that are prohibited in the park, accumulated at all entrances. Numerous clean up calls came into the maintenance department in this period, and the club utilized a large number of employees to continually remove the vast amount of trash that was accumulating. The debris on the statue was removed in a timely manner but it should not have been allowed to be placed there in the first place. The Rangers Fans statue is a cherished component of Globe Life Park in Arlington and the club will make certain this situation does not occur in the future.

"

It's sad to see a day of celebration overshadowed by something like this, but this incident should at least start talks about how to protect the statue. 

[Sporting News, h/t Big League Stew and USA Today's FTW]