The Arrowtown sign before it was stolen and taken to
Auckland Airport. Photo supplied.
The Arrowtown Post Office sign advertising gifts,
stationery and books has been discovered at Auckland Airport.
While waiting for a flight to Hong Kong, Arrowtown's Justin
Eden noticed a security guard at the airport with the sign.
His wife told the post office manager, who called the
Arrowtown community constable.
The post office is one of the most photographed buildings in
the village so when the old-fashioned sign was stolen in
January, Lakes District Museum director David Clarke promptly
had a new one made at a cost of about $300.
Mr Clarke said the museum has been running the post office
since 1991 ''on a shoestring'' and was annoyed about the
sign's disappearance.
The village's CCTV cameras failed to identify the thieves.
Arrowtown community Senior Constable Beth Fookes said the
sign
ended up in the airport's lost and found department. She
presumed tourists with a van stole stole the sign and failed
to get it on to a flight.
Mr Clarke said he expected the sign to be returned, but ''how
it's getting back I don't know''.
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