The artist who designed a large aluminum dragon that was stolen from a Nanaimo Park is appealing to the thieves to return it.
Heather Wall is a sculptor and instructor at Vancouver Island University. Her creation -- Rock Dragon 2-point-zero -- was perched on a 2 metre poll in Maffeo Sutton Park, where it was supposed to be on display during a year-long lease with the city before being returned to her.
It had only been there a few weeks when someone -- likely a team of thieves -- were able to get it down and make off with it sometime late Friday:
" I believe the city of Nanaimo is willing to say do the right thing, just bring it back, apologize and we'll, you know, let it go, let the people of Nanaimo enjoy it. RCMP are not going to be as friendly about it. So, there's an out. There's an option there for whoever, the individuals, whoever took this, they have an option to bring it back."
The aluminum dragon sculpture is 4 feet tall and 5 feet wide, and weighs about 35 kilograms (77pounds). It was bolted on top of a globe made of rock and steel.
Wall says the one-of-a-kind dragon art is easily recognizable, and RCMP right across the country have photos of it. The picture and story are also circulating in media nationwide, as well as on social media.
Anyone with information about the theft or the location of the missing dragon is asked to contact the Nanaimo RCMP at 250-754-2345 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.