Gallery's stolen gnome on way back home

The gnome was recovered this morning after it was left at the Glen Eden Salvation Army. Photo...
The gnome was recovered this morning after it was left at the Glen Eden Salvation Army. Photo supplied
A $55,000 bronze gnome sculpture stolen from outside Gow Langsford Gallery has been found abandoned in West Auckland.

Anna Jackson, director of Gow Langsford Gallery, told The New Zealand Herald the gnome was recovered this morning after it was dropped off at the Glen Eden Salvation Army with a note saying "Please return to Gow Langsford Art Gallery Auckland".

Jackson said the gallery received a call from police to report that the statue had been found.

"Staff at the Salvation Army called police when they turned up to work about 9am," she said.

"When I got here the police were doing fingerprints and things. We are now allowed to take him home."

Jackson said the sculpture, named Thinker, by renowned artist Gregor Kregar, will now live safely inside the gallery.

"He is in pretty good condition. He will need a bit of a clean and a polish and then I think we will put him on show in our Lorne St gallery seeing as though he is a bit of a celebrity now so people will get the chance to see him," she said.

The sculpture was stolen about midnight on Christmas Eve by three thieves in high-vis vests.

They spent an hour removing the 2m-tall bronze gnome from outside the gallery on the corner of Wellesley and Kitchener Sts in Auckland Central.

CCTV footage showed the men bending down and using an instrument to unbolt the 80-100kg statue from the concrete plinth.

 

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