Hundertwasser Art Centre pleas for return of stolen sculpture 'no questions asked'

An outdoor sculpture has been stolen from the Hundertwasser Art Centre in Whangārei and if returned the gallery says there'll be no questions asked.Police said the outdoor sculpture Tiori Toru has been missing for about a week and was removed from the centre's grounds at about 3.15am on Monday 24 August.The wooden sculpture made by local artist Karin de Beer is approximately 1.4m x 600mm and is inlaid with glass birds.Hundertwasser Art Centre director Joost de Bruin told Checkpoint the centre's outdoor sculpture exhibition had six sculptures.De Beer's work is made of pohutukawa wood, he said."So it's a wood slab that was mounted onto a rock and that rock was concreted to the ground. Now the pōhutukawa slab has been taken, the rock was still there when we found it and somebody somehow managed to get the slab off the rock."There was some footage from cameras around the town basin where the centre is located, he said."And we actually saw that the individual who stolen the slab was pretty quick and managed to detach it from the rock and then took off with it under their arm on a bike."The person appeared to be pretty savvy and managed to evade some areas where there were cameras, he said.On that basis de Bruin said they thought that it appeared to be a premeditated theft and that the person had done some prior research.De Bruin said he did not know why someone would steal such an artwork because it would likely be difficult to sell because people would recognise it."It is an artwork we've received a lot of positive feedback on, the public really liked it because it is glass inside pohutukawa wood and it represents three different bird species, perhaps this person just really liked it for themselves, but of course that makes everybody else pretty sad about what has happened.""[Karin de Beer is] pretty sad that the artwork is gone because for her it is an opportunity to show case her art to the wider public and that opportunity's now been taken away from her."De Bruin wanted anyone who might know where the sculpture is to arrange for it to be returned."If it is dropped off here at the Hundertwasser Arts Centre we will happily receive it with no questions asked, we would just be happy to have it back."Alternatively anyone with information could contact the police through the 105 line and cite reference 260824/0597 or via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111 to provide information anonymously.