[CPProt.net] Maori handtool stolen last week from Wairarapa's museum of art found concealed in a piece of furniture at the gallery

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Stolen adze turns up in sofa 
19 July 2005  
By TANYA KATTERNS

A historic Maori handtool stolen last week from Aratoi, Wairarapa's museum
of art and history, has been found concealed in a piece of furniture at the
gallery. 


Museum staff received an anonymous phone call on Friday afternoon, saying
the artefact had been returned and was hidden in a couch. A search revealed
the stolen piece, which had been wrapped in serviettes and stuffed behind a
cushion. 

Shortly after the first phone call, a man rang again, to confirm the adze
had been found. 

The adze, thought to have been used by Maori to prepare flax or scrape food,
was part of a collection owned by the Broughton family of Masterton, which
had entrusted the collection to Aratoi for display purposes. 

No one has been arrested for the theft. 

However, museum director Marcus Boroughs is confident police will track down
the thief. 

In what appeared to be an opportunistic and poorly thought-out robbery, a
man was clearly seen on Aratoi's video surveillance camera taking the piece
on July 11 after he "wrenched" a perspex case up and reached under for the
stone tool head, he said. 

AdvertisementAdvertisement"With the high-quality camera security system and
the fingerprints, we've pretty much got all the evidence we need, apart from
him actually wearing a huge name tag on his T-shirt," Mr Boroughs said. 

Police confirmed they had video footage and fingerprints.