[MSN] Insurance company is offering a $5, 000 reward for the safe return of a statue stolen from an Oregon State University fraternity in June.

[Museum Security Network Mailing list]

Reward offered for stolen Delta Chi statue

Photo:
http://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2007/07/30/news/community/7aaa02_statue
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By Gwyneth Gibby
Gazette-Times reporter 

An insurance company is offering a $5,000 reward for the safe return of a
statue stolen from an Oregon State University fraternity in June. The statue
of the Roman god Vulcan was stolen from Delta Chi fraternity on Northwest
13th Street in Corvallis, on the night of June 10. The bronze statue is
estimated to be between 2 and a half and 3 feet tall and weighs as much as
100 pounds, according to fraternity members.

The artist who created the statue is unknown, as is the precise value. Delta
Chi house president Kyle Waletich estimated the value between $100,000 and
$250,000 when he reported it stolen. One Oregon artist who works in bronze
said it could well be worth over $100,000. 

"The $5,000 reward is for the safe and undamaged return of the statue,"
reads an email from Steve Wilson of HRH/Kirklin insurance company to the
fraternity, "or the successful prosecution of the persons involved in the
theft."

 
Wilson said if the thieves return the statue, the insurance company was not
looking to prosecute them. But if someone knows who the thieves are and
helps to find and prosecute them, $5,000 awaits them.

According to police, the statue was stolen sometime around 2:30 a.m. the
night of June 10. A fraternity member woke to the sound of someone opening
the door to the sleeping porch and calling out "Hey guys!" When he went to
check who it was, he found no one. But the statue was gone and a ground
floor window was standing open.

The statue was given to the house in 1926, when Charles Rosenkrans, a recent
graduate and member of Delta Chi, was killed in an accident. His family
donated the statue of Vulcan, god of fire and metal working, to the house
where it has been on display ever since.

Police have circulated a photo to artists and dealers hoping for more
information about the statue's provenance, and news reports, including some
television spots have been aired. But the mystery of who took the heavy work
of art out the window in the dead of night remains.

Anyone with information about the whereabouts or the origin of the statue is
asked to contact Corvallis Police at 541-766-6924.