Mt Pleasant residents ‘devastated’ at theft of $95,000 bronze bird sculpture

Mt Pleasant Community Centre president Derek McCullough stands next to the empty plinth where the stolen sculpture once sat. Photo / RNZ

By Joe Shaw of RNZ

The theft of a $95,000 bronze sculpture by Llew Summers from a Christchurch community centre has devastated locals who fear the prized artwork will be sold for scrap metal.

Mt Pleasant community members raised their own funds to buy the 2.2 metre-long and 2.2 tonne sculpture named Flight, depicting a large bird, in honour of the late artist who lived in the seaside suburb.

Sculpted in 2018, the artwork was installed on a plinth outside the centre in 2023 at a cost of around $125,000.

On Friday morning the plinth sat empty, surrounded by tyre marks coming from the road and community centre car park.

Mt Pleasant Community Centre president Derek McCullough said he first became aware the sculpture was gone after someone noticed it was missing on their way to work.

He said the sculpture was inspired by the nearby estuary and was the last big bronze work Summers made.

“Llew was a local resident who lived here most of his life and had his funeral here, which was an amazing event.

“So it was a tribute to him and, on that basis, the locals got together to raise money to buy it,” he said.

“[Flight] was just a lovely piece that reminded us of his presence around here, and also that we live on the side of an estuary with 30,000 more birds beside the big one he made.

“We are just devastated that someone decided to steal it.”

McCullough said he had not been able to establish when or how the sculpture had been stolen because there was no security camera footage.

He hoped a member of the public saw the thieves but was not optimistic the sculpture would be found.

“Because of its size and weight, it would have taken quite an exercise to get it. With thousands of cars passing a day, we’re hoping one of them might have seen something happening,” he said.

McCullough said someone likely stole the sculpture because of the scrap value of bronze.

“I’ve contacted the Association of Metal Recyclers and put in a report, hopefully that might stop that particular avenue.

“Otherwise, who knows? Maybe it’s an unscrupulous art collector who decided they’d like it in their backyard or that they could sell it to someone just as unscrupulous,” he said.

Police confirmed they received a report on Friday about the stolen sculpture but they were yet to identify any offenders.

- RNZ