Navy to let state keep Badger statue

MADISON — The U.S. Navy will let Wisconsin keep its beloved badger statue for 50 more years, scrapping plans to move the sculpture to an East Coast museum.

The statue, sculpted from melted-down cannons seized from Cuba during the Spanish-American War, was affixed to the first USS Wisconsin before World War I. The U.S. Naval Academy Museum lent it to the state in 1988. It has sat outside the governor’s office in the state Capitol since 1989, delighting thousands of tourists who rub its nose for good luck.