Ceramics SA Western Cape is offering a reward for any information about two ceramic sculptures which were stolen over the weekend from The Rust-en-Vrede gallery in Durbanville.
According to staff members at the gallery, the sculptures were last seen when they locked up on Saturday and when they arrived for work on Monday morning they were gone.
Both sculptures, The Mad Hatter by ceramist Delise Reich and the Meerkat by Mary Simons were part of the Curious Creatures ceramic sculpture garden, which was supposed to be displayed until Tuesday December 4 as part of Ceramics month.
Ceramics SA national chairperson Dr Ralph Johnson said: “We are all devastated by this theft. The remaining sculptures have been moved and are now being exhibited on the veranda outside the eatery at Rust-en-Vrede where there are security beams at night to protect them.”
Staff members also confirmed that one of the statues, the Mad Hatter, was damaged in the process of it being stolen.
Staff say the statues each weigh about 50kg so it’s likely whoever took them, had access to a vehicle to transport them from the site. They also believe those who took the statues will struggle to resell them.
A staff member, who did not want to be named, said: “We think it is either somebody who really liked them and decided to steal it for themselves or maybe it was just a sign of vandalism.
Northern News was unable to get comment from Durbanville police by the time this edition went to print.
Anyone with information can contact Dr Johnson on ralphjinclay@telkomsa.net