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Missing Beaver Island statue mysteriously returned

Cynthia Hector-Johnson

All is well on Beaver Island.

Police say Thursday night thieves - or pranksters - returned a statue that had been stolen from outside the Beaver Island Public Library.

Not only was the statue returned under cover of darkness, it was also bolted it back into the ground.

Patrick McGinnity is the director of the Beaver Island District Library.

He says the statue is undamaged, and he thinks police will drop the case.

"You know if they had found it in somebody's possession and it hadn't been returned then it would have gone on with charges and things but since it is back I have a feeling that will be the end of it."

The Charlevoix County Sheriff’s office says it is still investigating who took the statue and how it was returned.

“It’s a place where people don’t lock the doors on their house, people don’t take their keys out of their car. So there was a bit of tension about that and so the fact that it was returned, even though it was a dumb prank, people are more confident that things haven’t changed that much on Beaver Island."

McGinnity says he thinks a prankster took the statue not knowing how important it is and became nervous about returning it. He adds he's not too concerned with who took it.

The sculpture was part of the Hemingway Sculpture Project commemorating the writer's time in Michigan.

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