Bucket stolen from Cuba Street's iconic fountain, Wellington City Council hunting for culprit

The bucket was also stolen in 2016. Photo / Vita Molyneux

Cuba St's iconic fountain has actually been missing a bucket for weeks – but seemingly, no one noticed until today.

On Friday morning, Wellington commuters were pausing to look at the fountain, confirming that yes, the yellow bucket near its base was in fact, gone - suspected stolen.

Alexandra Wasiolek is the manager of Cosmic Vape and Coffee, which is directly opposite the fountain. She hadn't yet realised the bucket was missing when the Herald visited on Friday morning but said it would surprise her if someone had managed to take it.

"They're quite big and heavy – I hope someone hasn't stolen it!"

Wellington City Council spokesman Richard MacLean confirmed on Friday afternoon that actually, the bucket was stolen a number of weeks ago, affording the council enough time to have a new one being made by the time the Herald got in touch.

The same bucket was stolen back in 2016, and later returned under cover of darkness, with a new paint job, The interior of the bucket had been covered in bright psychedelic artwork.

MacLean says it'll be a while before a new bucket can be put in place to replace the stolen one, even though a number of weeks have already passed.

"The fountain isn't working right now and we've got a local company to build a new bucket out of fibreglass. It'll probably take a couple of weeks to get everything going again."

He says whoever is harbouring the bucket can bring it back, no questions asked.

"But in saying that, we'll also be having a look at our CCTV cameras to see if we can spot any perpetrators."

Wellington District Police are on the case too, posting on Facebook that the bucket's owner – Wellington City Council – is concerned for its welfare.

"Bucket is described as bright yellow and resembles a deep vessel with an oval opening."

But police were not all laughs, reminding Wellingtonians that the missing bucket is still considered theft, and a costly one at that, with a replacement likely to cost around $2000.

"If you know where the missing bucket is, please call 105."