Seal statue stolen from elderly woman's Napier home in Marewa

Beverley Dunlop, 84, was left distressed after a seal statue was stolen from her home in Marewa. Photo / Supplied

An elderly woman has been left distressed after a seal statue that sat in the front garden of her Napier home for more than 40 years was stolen.

Beverley Dunlop said the statue of a seal balancing a ball, a piece of Kiwiana from that era, was taken from her house on Veronica Ave, Marewa, on Monday night.

"I am so distressed at the theft," she said. "It is concrete and very heavy - it would have taken two men to shift it and a van to take it away.

"My deceased husband loved the statue - I remember when he had help to lift it into position. It's sad these scumbags would trample on my memories."

The 84-year-old, a former author of children's stories, hopes that getting the story out there may bring her beloved seal statue home.

"It may mean someone might see it around Napier," she said.

"It lived in the front rose garden - not far from my bedroom window - and I hope this can help me to track it down."

Police said they received a report of a large garden ornament being stolen from an address on Veronica Ave, Marewa, at some stage between February 16 and 18.

A police spokeswoman said: "Unfortunately there were no lines of inquiry and the matter has been filed."

The incident mirrors a similar theft of a sea lion statue from Ada McIlroy's garden in Clive in 2018. Photo / Supplied

The incident on Monday night mirrors a similar theft from widow Ada McIlroy in Clive in 2018.

McIlroy was also left angry after she awoke to find her concrete sea lion sculpture had been stolen in the night.

The statue, which had also been on show in her front garden, was given to her late husband as a gift nearly four decades before.