Whilst not exactly 'high art' this is a good news tale of a well-loved sculpture that was stolen from a retirement community in St Helena, which is north of Eltham, but was found and has now been reinstalled. The story is from The Guardian of July 3, 2024.
Mysterious disappearance of Garry the gorilla leads police helicopter to Melbourne back yardA month after it was allegedly stolen, Victoria police will return a beloved gorilla statue to its rightful home at a Melbourne retirement village after using its air wing to find “Garry” in a back yard. Garry, a 1.5-metre statue, was reported stolen from the Leith Park retirement village – north-east of the Melbourne CBD – on 6 June. Police said in a statement they were not willing to “cop this kind of monkey business” when the statue was reported stolen, so investigators “threw their all” into locating Garry.
After “extensive investigations”, police narrowed in on a residence in Reservoir, roughly a 20-minute drive from the retirement village. The force’s air wing was called in for the task, and helicopter pilots spotted the statue in a back yard. A search warrant was executed at the residence on Monday, and police were set to return Garry to the entrance of Leith Park on Wednesday afternoon.
Tim Nelson, the executive manager of marketing for Abound Communities, which owns the retirement village, said residents were excited about Garry’s return, with one woman even baking cookies. “One of our residents bakes cookies with her grandson and takes the cookies over to Garry, so I spoke with Robyn this morning and Robyn’s already baking cookies ready to take back when Garry arrives this afternoon,” he told Guardian Australia.
Nelson said it was a resident who first noticed Garry was missing last month. They said “G’day” to him in the morning, but when they returned in the afternoon, Garry was not there. Police said that investigations into the alleged theft remain ongoing, and anyone who witnessed anything suspicious or who has CCTV footage is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Garry, who is 1.5 metres high was donated to the retirement village, along with two other African animals, by Northcote Pottery.
Garry the Gorilla
Image: Victoria Police
Update: The Herald -Sun reported on July 6, 2024 that a man has been charged with the theft of the gorilla and a number of other offences and will face the Heidelberg Magistrates Court on August 30.
References
Mysterious disappearance of Garry the gorilla leads police helicopter to Melbourne back yard from The Guardian, July 3, 2024, read here.
Police recover and return Garry the stolen gorilla, Victoria Police website July 3, 2024 read here.
