JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

The monument created by Transylvania native Levente Denes is made up of a series of crosses and other emblems used to honor and remember those lost at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007. "The top star symbolizes the light, strength and community and, hopefully, the commitment to never give up," Denes says.

Levente Denes

BLACKSBURG -- Officials from West Hungary University and West Virginia University joined Virginia Tech leaders Monday in the dedication of a 14 1/2-foot wooden sculpture to honor those lost in the April 16, 2007, shootings.

The sculpture, a kopjafa, is a Hungarian art form used to memorialize heroes.

Levente Denes, a native of Transylvania, was a visiting professor of forestry at West Virginia University at the time of the shootings. He built the sculpture during the fall of 2007, spending more than 200 hours to construct the 600-pound tribute out of white oak.

The structure stands in front of the entrance to Cheatham Hall, home to Tech's Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation. A plaque on the stone base says the kopjafa "is given in memory of all whose lives were lost or altered by the events of April 16, 2007."

The structure itself has no inscription, a traditional trait of the kopjafa, Denes said. The idea is that the community knows those who died and does not need words to explain to them who they were. Instead, a series of crosses and other emblems are used to honor and remember those lost.

"The top star symbolizes the light, strength and community and, hopefully, the commitment to never give up," he said.

Denes returns to West Hungary University this week to be the school's institutional director of product development and manufacturing technology. He described the kopjafa as a tribute to express solidarity, unity, commitment and love. He said it should also symbolize a commitment to avoid similar tragedies in the future.

Tech President Charles Steger said Monday that the sculpture is both a reminder of great loss and an expression of hope for a community "trying to make tomorrow better than today."

Cameron Hackney, dean of the Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Science at WVU, spoke about the bonds between his university and Tech and the many people in his college -- including himself -- who worked or studied at Tech. He recalled the concern he and others felt the day of the shootings as they tried in vain to reach friends on the Blacksburg campus.

Michael Kelly, dean of Tech's College of Natural Resources, called the monument "a true act of friendship. One that we will treasure as time goes forward."