Have You Seen This Gnome?

75 lawn ornaments, including gnomes and various animals, that were removed from lawns have taken refuge at the Springfield Oregon police station. Apparent victims of a prank, the gnomes are waiting for someone to claim them.

After being removed from their proper homes, the gnomes (and other assorted lawn ornaments) were found on October 17th artfully arranged in front of a home in the Thurston Oregon area. RegisterGuard.com reports that they were taken to the Springfield police station where they're waiting for their families to come and claim them.

“We need to get them out of here,” Springfield Capt. Richard Harrison said. “Every time I leave my office they’re sitting in my chair, working on my computer. I can’t seem to get rid of the darn things.”

A "viewing" will be held on Tuesday, allowing interested parties to see the gnomes and identify any that belong to them, so that they can be returned. Afterward, the unclaimed gnomes will be put up for auction. While the visitors have drawn a few laughs from the officers, the gnomes were meticulously catalogued and every effort to identify the owners was made. There's also been some investigation into the matter. After all, a crime's been committed.

“There is a serious side to this,” Harrison said. “Some of these are really intricate; I’m sure there’s some emotional attachment to them. Someone is the victim of a theft.”

While "small time" theft of lawn gnomes and other ornaments is fairly common and easily resolved without police involvement, a theft of this magnitude would be virtually impossible for the culprits to correct themselves. Indeed I don't know anyone my age who hasn't stolen (temporarily), rearranged or moved someones lawn ornaments. I've done it myself, actually. Once, my brother and I swapped 2 neighboring lawns' ornaments and placed them in almost the same positions they were on the original lawn -- of course, we knew the families involved and knew that they'd have a good laugh.