Christmas Penguin Stolen

The Penguin Post has learned that a family came home Christmas Eve to find someone had swiped their beloved inflatable penguin – right from their doorstep in west suburban Montgomery, Illinois.  Kim Mattern said the “fat little penguin’’ stands about 6-feet-tall and 4-feet-wide and stood outside next to the front door as part of the family’s holiday decorations. She, her husband Joshua and their two kids left their home at in the 0-99 block of Woodcliff Road in Montgomery about 1 p.m. Sunday to attend a family holiday party. When they returned about 8 p.m., the penguin was gone. Her 2-year-old and 6-year-old became “very upset,’’ but Mattern said they were honest with them and told them the penguin had been stolen. Nothing else was taken and they initially purchased the item for about $50. The Kendall County Sheriff’s office reported no similar robberies occurring in the neighborhood, she said. The penguin hasn’t been found. “On Christmas…that’s the part that bothers us the most, that it’s Christmas,’’ said Mattern.  Not even the Grinch would stoop this low.

Have you seen this penguin?

Plastic Penguin Thieves Nabbed

This just in to the Penguin Post. Prague police said on Tuesday that they had arrested three foreigners and charged them with  stealing  a penguin sculpture from Prague’s central Museum Kampa. The yellow plastic sculpture was one of an identical series of very cool looking penguins perched on a stone wall outside the museum on the Vltava River and illuminated at night.

According to Municipal Police spokesman Tomáš Hulan, the accused face potential prison sentences of up to two years if convicted. We think 5 years hard labor in Antarctica would be a suitable punishment.  The penguin disappeared June 4 at around 5 a.m. and the police began investigating the case two days later.

The thieves had to get past a two-meter high fence to snatch the penguin, police said. Hulan added the financial damage to the museum totaled Kč 70,000. “It only took the police four days to apprehend the penguin nappers,” the police boasted on their website.

The trio of misguided accused that are now “on ice” were reported to be a Russian, a Spanish speaker and a French speaker, all in their 20s.  The penguin sculptures are the work of the Italian-based Cracking Art Group, which specializes in placing unusual plastic sculptures in public spaces. The condition of the recovered plastic penguin after its six day ordeal was not given.

Glowing penguin sculptures outside the Kamp Museum are identical to the one taken by the penguin-nappers.

 

Penguin Stolen in Nashville

This in from the Nashville Tribune Local Crime Blotter

 

Theft

• Two catalytic converters were stolen between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m .Dec. 2 in the 400 block of Fairway Drive.
• A red Mazda was stolen around 7:30 a.m. Dec. 3 in the 200 block of Lancaster Circle. Police estimated the loss at $17,000.
• A vehicle’s window was smashed and a purse was taken at 9:38 a.m. Dec. 3 in the 300 block of W. 87^th Street.
• A vehicle’s window was smashed and a purse was taken between 8:43 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Dec. 3 in the 2100 block of 95^th Street.
• A vehicle was burglarized between 9:14 a.m. and 11 a.m. Dec. 3 in the 1100 block of E. Chicago Avenue.
• An XBox, video games and loose change was stolen from a residence between Nov. 20 and Dec. 3 in the 800 block of N. Ellsworth Street.
• An iPod and GPS unit were taken from an unlocked vehicle between 7 p.m. Dec. 1 and 7 a.m. Dec. 2 in the 1100 block of N. West Street.
• A 3-foot-tall Christmas decoration of a penguin with a Santa hat was stolen between 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Nov. 29 in the 1100 block of Wydown Court.

Kelli the Irish Penguin Found

The Penguin Post has learned that police in Dublin located a penguin stolen from a city zoo via tracking it by using a microchip and recovered from a city street. Investigators said the penguin was taken from the Dublin Zoo by a group of men at about 8 a.m. Thursday and was found on a city street a few hours later, The Irish Examiner reported Thursday. The penguin, a 10-year-old female Humboldt named Kelli, was unharmed by the ordeal, zoo officials said. “Dublin Zoo is naturally relieved that the animal is safe and unharmed and back in the zoo,” zoo officials said in a statement. “However, we wish to underline our annoyance about this incident. The welfare and health of all animals is our primary concern and this kind of incident is not frivolous and is certainly not something amusing.”

Stolen Penguin Back in Dublin Zoo

Kelli the penguin’s back home in Dublin Zoo after pranksters snatched the bird and abandoned her on a city sidewalk.

Dublin Zoo condemned Thursday’s theft as no joke, because the 10-year-old Humboldt penguin could have been injured during her abduction or crushed by a vehicle.

Zoo officials said police tracked down Kelli using a signal from a microchip planted on the bird. She got the medical all-clear and was returned to her penguin partner, Mick.

Police said the thieves climbed over a security fence into an enclosure housing about a dozen Humboldt penguins and picked Kelli for reasons unknown.

Dublin Zoo has been targeted by annoying pranks before. In 2008, its switchboard was overwhelmed by callers asking to speak to Rory Lyon, G. Raffe and Ana Conda.

Missing Penguin Returned

PLYMOUTH, Mass – A downtown shopkeeper reported the theft of a penguin statue Wednesday.  The penguin was used to hold open the door at Something For Your Dust on Court Street.  The statue had been accidentally left outside when the door was closed. Police found a man walking down the street with it. He was then encouraged to return the  statue and released as the penguin has declined to press charges.

Stolen Penguin Returned

The Penguin Post has just learned that the stolen penguin in Woodinville, Washington has been returned, although the penguin-napper is still at large.  Ten-year-old Alexis Hood read the letter of apology from the penguin thief yesterday while sitting next to her penguin that was stolen New Years Day.

“Dear family, we are very sorry for the trouble we have caused for your family,” she read.

On Monday, a local tv station aired surveillance footage of a man stealing the lawn decoration from her front porch, while she and her family were on vacation.

“I spent my money on it and I saved up for a long time just to get them,” said Alexis, who spent $60 to buy the pair of penguins.

But this morning, the stolen penguin reappeared.

“We got a phone call from our neighbors about 7:20 that said they spotted a garbage bag alongside the house,” said Nathan Hood, Alexis’ father.

The Hoods found the penguin over at the side of the house. A place where surveillance cameras couldn’t capture the thief returning to the scene of the crime.

“So I ran downstairs, ran out in the front yard in my nightgown with no shoes and I saw a big plastic bag with a note on it,” said Alexis.

The handwritten letter attached to the penguin said: “It was never our intention to upset you, or even worse, make your 10-year-old daughter sad… We hope that our actions have not made you feel unsafe in your own home… We feel you deserve an apology in person, but due to our embarrassment we are writing a letter.”

“That was very nice,” said Alexis.

“They probably are very pleasant people who made a bad decision,” said Alexis’ father. ”At least they were good enough to own up to it and bring it back.”

Tonight all is forgiven and both kids and adults learned the importance of saying you’re sorry and righting a wrong. And from now on the penguins will be kept safe.

“Put it in the backyard… with my polar bear that someone tried to steal two years ago,” says Alexis.