Thieves Steal $3,000 Statue - Cops Recover Statue - Mistakenly Throw It In Trash

[matcom]

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LA SELVA BEACH (AP) - Cops have solved the copper crane caper, but there's a sad ending to the story.

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office, which recovered Triangle Park's stolen ''origami crane'' sculpture, mistakenly tossed it in the trash.

The sculpture, stolen in November, is believed to be buried under tons of trash at the Santa Cruz County dump.

''Somebody thought it was garbage,'' sheriff's Sgt. Fred Plageman said Tuesday.

The crane was found by a deputy Saturday morning in a brown plastic trash bag in the middle of Solano Avenue. The deputy took it, garbage bag and all, to be booked into evidence but it wound up near bags of trash and was inadvertently hauled away.

''It was human error on our part,'' Plageman said. ''We are extremely disappointed and apologetic.''

Plageman said he went to the Buena Vista Landfill Tuesday morning but couldn't find the sculpture. It was tough breaking the news to residents, he said.

''It is an unbelievable thing to have happened,'' said 87-year-old Sylvia Gerbl, who was among those who created the Peace Pyramid in 1995. The crane, valued at $3,000, sat atop the pyramid.

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/state/16703734.htm