If this was an April Fools joke, no one is laughing.
Gary Crawford a steel sculptor from Midlothian, Illinois created a one of a kind velociraptor dinosaur sculpture and displayed it proudly for all to see right in his front yard.
The dinosaur sculpture sat undisturbed in the front lawn of the man’s home for the last two years until last Thursday when Crawford noticed his work of art piece had moved.
"I wrote that off as a joke," Crawford said. April 2 someone unbolted the structure from its concrete resting place and moved it to the side of Crawford's house.
He then moved the 150 pound structure back in place and bolted it again and thought it was done.
But the thieves came back a second time and removed the sculpture again and this time it vanished without a trace.
"It's big," he said. "It would take at least two guys to move this thing. ... There's about 80 individual pieces to it and it's made of hot-rolled steel."
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Crawford's worst fear is that his artwork will end up on a junk heap.
“I’m just hoping someone stole it for what it is, … I hope they didn’t take it and try to get $15 dollars for the scrap metal” he told the Southtown Star.
Crawford spent 50 hours cutting, shaping, and welding the steel pieces together about 12 years ago, when he was taking welding classes.
"I did it when I was young and ambitious."
He had it in his backyard until he decided it was worth displaying in the front lawn so everyone could enjoy it as much as he did.
If he gets it back he'll figure out a better way to lock it down.
