TRURO, N.S. -- Wayne Smith has been creating sculptures for years, but his latest one is close to his heart.
The Broken Heart Sculpture was finished last June, but only unveiled over the weekend at Victoria Park in Truro.
The sculpture stands three-and-a-half metres tall and weighs 680 kilograms. The names of those lost in the tragedy, including that of an unborn child, are displayed on the piece.
"One of the hardest things, difficult things emotionally to do was the day before we brought it down was on a Friday was to put the names of all the people including my stepson Corrie," said Smith. "The emotions were very heavy that day."
Smith’s stepson Corrie Ellison was one of the victim’s in last year’s mass shooting.
The large sculpture caught the eye of many people using the park Monday.
"Extremely moving," Brian Bright said of the piece. "The individual hearts are particularly meaningful."
Jocelyn Tingley knew one of the victims and came from Middle Sackville to see the sculpture firsthand.
"We knew Lisa McCully … from our church camp, so that's why we came up," said Tingley.
"It's just beautiful," she said of the sculpture. "It's a lot of loss for Nova Scotia so it's really nice to see them do something for the victims and for the families."
Fifteen memorial sites have also been set up inside the park to honour the victims as part of Commemorative Walk.
As for the sculpture, Smith hopes it brings some comfort to the families and those who see it.
"So many people want to grieve with them along that's why you see so many flowers, so many teddy bears, so many sayings because you know, they're afraid, what if we had a lost a loved one how would we deal with it," said Smith.
The sculpture will be moved out of Victoria Park next week.
