Sculpture theft puzzles restaurant owner, chef

Tarpon police investigate how and why someone would take a big, foam rendering of rocks.

By ROBERT FARLEY

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 7, 2000

TARPON SPRINGS -- Whoever pulled off this bizarre and bold theft might have left behind a curious clue.

A tube of L'Oreal Voluminous mascara.

Sometime Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, burglars made off with a 9-by-12-foot plastic foam sculpture from beneath a porch roof over the entrance of the soon-to-be-opened Rock Waters restaurant and bar.

The giant sculpture, fashioned after the Red Rocks of Sedona, Ariz., was missing Thursday morning when owner Eric Arneson arrived with some workers at 7:30.

"It's such a massive piece, I didn't recognize it was gone until a worker said something," Arneson said.

The $3,700 sculpture was designed to be an eye-catching, theme-oriented centerpiece for Rock Waters. The restaurant, on the west side of U.S. 19 north of Klosterman Road, is still undergoing extensive renovations and is expected to open in a month.

"They caught us with our guard down," Arneson said.

The restaurant's executive chef, Christopher Lyon, is at a loss as to who might attempt such a bold theft.

First, he said, the painted foam had been sprayed a day before with a protective coating that increased its weight to 200 to 300 pounds. It would have taken at least three to four people to lift, he said. And then, where would one put it? It won't fit through the door of a home, he said.

"It's way more than a prank," Lyon said. "I don't think kids would have the means or resources to carry it away. I can't imagine someone didn't see something."

Arneson and Lyon now wonder about a woman -- described as 30 to 40 years old and wearing heavy makeup -- who came in last week and spent a half hour asking "borderline annoying" questions about the sculpture.

Lyon noted that workers, all male, found a tube of mascara at the scene of the crime. A Tarpon Springs police report lists the makeup as evidence.

"We don't know if it's coincidence or not," Lyon said.

The police report states there are no suspects.

"It was a nice piece of art," Arneson said. "I can't believe someone got away with it."

Robert Farley can be reached at (727) 445-4185 or at farley@sptimes.com.

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