Stork Stolen From Art Museum

This is really not cool.

Somebody has stolen two sculptures, and basically destroyed a third, from the grounds of the Fuller Craft Museum. The most notable is "Wood Stork." (Pictured below.) Pat Payne's creation, which was near the Fuller's main entrance, disappeared one night earlier this summer with only the toes of one foot remaining.

"I think everyone's sad that art we had put out to share with people in the city has been taken from them," Noelle Foye, the Fuller's education director, told me today.

Foye said the museum believes these thieves were driven by the rising price of scrap materials. Think of the copper gutters being stolen from local buildings. "Our impression is that they believed all of them were bronze - two fo them were bronze - and the bird was steel and they've taken them for the value of the bronze."

The only bright side: The Fuller has now secured the other two sculptures which remain outside.

The Exhibitionist is not a policing force, but in this case, it's hard not to try to help. If you have any information on the whereabouts of the Fuller pieces, or suspects to rat out, call the museum at 508-588-6000.