Police are looking for thieves who stole the big horn sheep sculpture overlooking the Castlegar and District Library’s amphitheatre.
It is not clear when Desert Big Horn by artist Pokey Park disappeared, but the theft of the bronze sculpture was noticed and reported to the RCMP on Tuesday.
Castlegar Sculpturewalk and local media publicized the theft Tuesday afternoon seeking information from the public.
When library employees showed up for work Wednesday morning they were met with a pleasant surprise — the lost sheep had returned.
This is the first theft Sculpturewalk has experienced in the nine years it has been running.
The sculpture is valued at $16,826 and Castlegar Sculpturewalk executive director Joy Barrett says that outdoor sculpture programs in other cities have experienced similar situations — someone takes a sculpture as a sort of joke or prank, and upon learning how valuable the sculpture is returns the sculpture.
At this point it is still not known why someone took Desert Big Horn, but the library has a security camera and the footage is being reviewed.
Anyone who has information about the theft of the sculpture should contact the local RCMP.