Disbelief at theft of statue
A cyclist waited until the early hours of Friday morning before stealing a statue of Ernest Rutherford, by tying a rope around the statue and rocking it back and forth until it snapped.
The statue of Rutherford as a child makes up part of a $400,000 monument at his birthplace, and left the community of Brightwater disappointed and in state of a disbelief, police said.
Caught on security footage, the suspect is believed to be a male who approached the statue from Lord Rutherford Rd North at 1.50am, exiting about 2.40am, on the same road heading north.
‘‘It was certainly a deliberate, targeted act. They were very direct, they rode straight in there and got about their work very quickly,’’ said
Wakefield’s Constable Jamie White. The perpetrator tied a rope around the statue and rocked it back and forth for about 30 minutes until it snapped. They then affixed the statue to their bicycle and rode off.
‘‘It is gutting to see something of such cultural significance taken like that,’’ White said.
His post about the theft on social media led to an ‘‘outpouring of disappointment and disbelief’’.
‘‘It has certainly upset the community . . . he is one of our most famous icons.’’
It was believed the perpetrator could be a local given their means of transport.
Rutherford is known as the father of nuclear physics. World famous for winning the Nobel Prize in 1908 for his work explaining radioactivity, and for ‘‘splitting the atom’’ in 1917, at the time of his death Rutherford was regarded as one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century.
The statue of Rutherford as a boy was created by Monaco sculptor Paul Walshe.
The $400,000 memorial marking Rutherford’s birthplace includes a mound surrounded by terraces with plants and trees from Canada, England and New Zealand representing the places where Rutherford worked.
It was opened by the governorgeneral of the time, Dame Catherine Tizard, on December 6, 1991.
Police would like to hear from anyone who may have seen any suspicious activity or have information on the statue’s whereabouts.
Any information can be sent to White at Jamie.WHITE2@police.govt.nz or reported by phoning 105 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, quoting file number 220806/1718.