A one-of-a-kind sculpture, worth $2000, carved by artist Jan Gosling, was stolen from her garden in Waipawa some time last week.
For 10 years Ms Gosling has been carving and displaying her Oamaru stone sculptures in the garden, and hundreds of people have walked through to buy and enjoy them.
But this is the first time she has ever had one go missing.
"I am very upset by this theft," she said.
"These pieces are carved and sanded by hand. They take many, many hours to make - and have a lot of me in them."
The sculpture is part of Ms Gosling's "holey series" and was the only one like it in the collection.
"It has holes in it like lace, which is something I have not seen other sculptors in Oamaru stone do," she said.
"Most of my other holey pieces are of fern leaves and fronds but this one is of flowers and vines, so it is a one of a kind. A totally unique sculpture, and there is no other like it anywhere."
Ms Gosling believes the thief may have been familiar with her garden, as the sculpture was nestled at the front of the section and could not be seen from the road.
"Possibly the thief had been to my place before, because they had gone directly to the piece they wanted and taken it."
There was also a certain amount of planning involved as the sculpture was made in two parts, and weighs up to 70kg combined.
"They must have come prepared because as you can probably appreciate stone can be very heavy, and it would be fairly conspicuous walking down the street struggling to carry two pieces of Oamaru stone," she said.
It is not clear which day last week the sculpture went missing as rain had kept Ms Gosling inside. She she noticed the absence of the piece about lunch time on Friday.
"My heart sunk, I felt quite violated. It could have been gone for a matter of days."
Ms Gosling asked anyone who may have information about the whereabouts of her missing sculpture to contact police on (06) 8589140.
"I don't have any idea where this sculpture could be, and whether it is being cared for properly or loved, and I would really like to have it back."
About $2000 worth of original Hawke's Bay artwork remains missing almost a fortnight after being stolen from the Waiohiki Community Trust shop at the Arts Village near Taradale.
Trust chairman Denis O'Reilly hopes the items will still be found, hopefully before becoming Christmas offerings for the unwary who he says would be embarrassed to learn their gifts were actually stolen property.
Many of the items stolen were unique, including Maori manaia figures and gecko lizards shapes cut from computer mother-boards, taniko earrings and woven flax ketes, ceramic tiles with Hawke's Bay themes, cushions, framed pictures and hand-made felt hats, and T-shirts designed by the Waiohiki youth group.