text: at yale, why did the cia want to take the nathan hale statue? yale refused to give it to them i cannot say for sure, but it appears that the statue at yale university is the original sculpture.  the other locations, including cia have replicas.  my guess is that the cia wanted the original - but yale has no motivation to part with that bit of history.  from first link: a statue of hale, sculpted around 1898 by bela lyon pratt, was cast in 1912 and stands in front of connecticut hall at hale's alma mater, yale. copies of this sculpture stand at the phillips academy in andover, massachusetts; the nathan hale homestead; the department of justice in washington, d.c.; and at the headquarters of the central intelligence agency.  from cia tour (second link):  one of three sculptures on the grounds, this statue is a replica of the original work created in 1914 for yale university, nathan hale's alma mater, by bela lyon pratt. the agency's copy of the statue was erected on the grounds in 1973, 200 years after his graduation from yale.