Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Snell Isle loses lion in a cowardly theft

Developer C. Perry Snell brought dozens of statues from Europe. A thief, with help, finds one of them irresistible.

By JON WILSON
Published August 16, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - A photo in Snell Isle's neighborhood history book suggests tradition and a depth of affection: A toddler is seated on a statue of a reclining lion. The snapshot was taken years ago.

"Every child that's grown up here has had their picture taken sitting on a lion," said Barbara Heck, president of the Snell Isle Property Owners Association. "It's almost a rite of passage."

Betty Ann Rhodes, the toddler in the photo, still lives on Snell Isle. The lion statue she was sitting on is gone, stolen late last week from the intersection of Snell Isle and Palmera boulevards NE.

Snell Isle has experienced vandalism to its concrete bestiary, but as far as Heck knows, this is the first time one of the panthers, lions or griffins has been stolen.

The property owners association is offering a $500 reward for the lion's return. Residents are hoping someone might spy the statue; it has a fresh coat of white paint, Heck noted.

Meanwhile, police are investigating. Its cost makes the lion's theft a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. A statuary company told the neighborhood a year ago that replacing a lion would cost $1,100 for the mold and $110 for the casting, plus delivery and setup charges, Heck said.

Someone pried the lion from its base late Thursday or early Friday, police said. An identical companion a few feet away was not disturbed.

The theft appeared to be other than a spur-of-the-moment action. Something or someone lifted the lion cleanly, leaving only a scar on the base where the beast lay.

"There's no debris around. It's not like it's an accident," Heck said.

Estimates of the statue's weight vary, but the consensus is that machinery or more than one person would be needed to haul it off its pedestal.

"They're certainly not light; they're concrete," said Hal Freedman, chairman of the neighborhood's beautification committee.

Freedman said the scale of statuary vandalism has increased over the years.

"It used to be dress them up or paint them. But the last few years, there's been a lot of breakage. People pull them over, break a head off," Freedman said.

At last count before the lion theft, Snell Isle was home to 80 animal statues: 38 panthers, 37 lions and five griffins, Heck said.

"Most every child has made up a funny story or given (an) animal a name over the years. I cannot imagine a child growing up here who didn't sit atop one of these great animals and dream wonderful things," Heck said.

The animals were among statuary that developer C. Perry Snell brought from Europe to enhance his property. The first Snell Isle lots were sold in 1925. Some of the animal statues, such as the stolen lion, are original. Others are replicas.

[Last modified August 16, 2005, 16:50:49]