[CPProt.net] Quarter-ton elephant swiped from Natick business

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Quarter-ton elephant swiped from Natick business
By Norman Miller / Daily News Staff
Saturday, September 10, 2005

NATICK -- It's not everyday an elephant is stolen in town, but on Thursday,
Myrna and Dennis Starr reported their family pachyderm missing. 
 
     Of course, the elephant was not a living breathing creature -- it was a
400- to 500-pound, handcarved, granite elephant that was on display at
Natick Memorial Works on Pond Street. 
 
     Also stolen was a 250-pound, handcarved, Japanese-style lantern pagoda.

 
     "We would give a reward for the return of the elephant," said Dennis
Starr, owner of Memorial Works. "It won't be peanuts, either." 
 

 
     The Starrs reported the two sculptures missing Thursday when Dennis
Starr went to show the elephant to a friend and it was gone, Myrna Starr
said. 
 
     "He (the friend) is a big Republican, so my husband said, 'Do I have
something to show you,' and it was gone. We were totally shocked," said
Myrna Starr. "It was there over the weekend. We went to the Cape over the
weekend, and I don't know if it was there when we came back. I cannot
imagine it not being there." 
 
     The Starrs bought the elephant, which is about 3 feet tall, at a show a
few years back. Although it was technically for sale, they had not made much
effort to sell it. 
 
     Dennis Starr said it is worth about $2,500. The pagoda is worth about
$1,200. A second pagoda was untouched. 
 
     "It's a very unusual piece, it's a museum piece, really," said Dennis
Starr. "People would come by with their little kids to show them. It was
nice. It kind of violates your trust in people." 
 
     Myrna Starr said it took three men with a dolly to originally move the
granite pachyderm. Dennis Starr said there were no tire marks, but there was
a strange footprint next to where the elephant rested. 
 
     The Natick Police are investigating the theft, Lt. Brian Grassey said. 
 
     "You have to figure out how someone walks off with a 400-pound
elephant," said Grassey. "They had to have some help with a 400-pound
elephant." 


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