Pelican statue heisted
<p>The pelican statue, created by Coeur d'Alene artist David Clemons, was stolen from a park in the Novato, Calif. In 2007, the city commissioned Clemons to sculpt and cast in bronze a monumental pelican in flight.</p>
A 700-pound bronze statue created by a Coeur d’Alene artist was stolen last week from a park in Novato, Calif., according to police.
The bronze and stone sculpture is called “Omay,” a Miwok word for pelican, and was sculpted by David Clemons, of Coeur d’Alene. Novato is in the San Francisco Bay area.
In 2007, the city commissioned Clemons to sculpt and cast in bronze a monumental pelican in flight, police said in a press release. It cost the city $27,500.
Clemons said, “I understand that the price of metal is climbing at a rate that far outshines the stock market, and if the statue is melted down and sold for raw materials it could bring an influx of cash into a desperate situation, but these are desperate times for all of us.”
It was located in the city park at what is called Scottsdale Pond.
To the native Miwok people, pelicans provided commerce, ornamentation and culture.
Clemons said, “I created the sculpture Omay to honor the traditional language of the first people to call the region home, the wealth of bird species that still call it home, and the new generations of bird lovers that have made it a new, adopted home.”
The Novato Police Department is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of any person involved in this incident.
Police said it might have been stolen for the metal.