Powell River artist Heather Wall’s sculpture Rock Dragon 2.0 has been returned.
“Guess who showed up in the Nanaimo library parking lot on Friday afternoon?” said Wall. “RCMP have him now. Soon he’ll be back on his rock globe.”
RCMP will check it for fingerprints, according to Wall.
“Other than that I have no idea of what kind of shape it’s in,” she said.
Wall received a message from Vancouver Island Regional Library that the flying dragon sculpture had been recovered, tucked in a green sleeping bag.
No other details have been released by Nanaimo RCMP.
The large aluminum sculpture, known as the Rock Dragon, was stolen from Maffeo Sutton Park sometime between June 22 and 23. Its disappearance garnered national media attention.
The theft would have required at least two people, according to Wall and RCMP.
Wall said a ladder and tools would have been needed because the large metal artwork was bolted to a globe on a pedestal 2.4 metres off the ground.
“It would require considerable effort and at least two persons to remove the sculpture then carry it to a nearby vehicle,” said Nanaimo RCMP constable Gary O'Brien when the piece was discovered stolen.
Wall is a widely recognized metal sculpture artist and many of her pieces have been featured in public art shows in Canada and the United States.
Rock Dragon was on lease to City of Nanaimo’s Temporary Art Program and valued at $12,000 to $13,000. It was the first art object to be stolen since the program was initiated in 2010.
A second sculpture went missing in Nanaimo just days after Wall’s piece was stolen.
RCMP said a terracotta Chinese warrior statue went missing from a private residence on June 26.
