$55,000 gnome returned

A bronze gnome sculpture worth more than $50,000 that was stolen on Christmas Day has been returned. Auckland’s Gow Langsford Gallery posted on Facebook yesterday that the gnome, which retails for $55,000, had turned up at the Salvation Army in Glen Eden. ‘‘This was a post we were hoping to write – Gregor Kregar’s Thinker gnome has been returned,’’ its post said. Gallery director Anna Jackson said the gnome had been left at the store with a note saying ‘‘Please return to Gow Langsford Art Gallery Auckland’’. Police had taken the note to test it for forensic evidence.