GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – An award-winning local bakery says the recent theft of their signature outdoor statues has not only employees down in the dumps, but community members as well.
Store Manager Nathan Vande Walle says there wasn’t much “good” about their Good Friday this past week.
“We believe that Thursday night, Friday morning, somewhere in there, that our De Pere store and Green Bay stores turtles were stolen,” explains Vande Walle.
And he’s not talking about chocolate turtles.
Rather these are outdoor statues, which sit outside the front of the store to greet customers.
Vande Walle says it must have taken a little heavy lifting to come away with the pair of statues.
“They are about forty-seven inches from tail to head and two feet wide,” he explains. “So it’s a large turtle.”
He also estimates that each statue weighs around fifty pounds.
In addition to its size, the turtles are also rather expensive, with each statue costing around $600.
Unfortunately, the bakery shop has seen this exact problem happen to them in the past, which moves the current count to three missing turtles.
“Back in December our Suamico store turtle was stolen,” explains Vande Walle. “So we’re not sure if that’s connected to this case.”
He says they have no idea why someone would want to take the turtle statues, but they have theorized that it’s simply someone playing a prank on them.
Nonetheless, they aren’t taking the theft lightly and the most recent incident has impacted their employees and the community.
Especially considering that their De Pere location turtle was painted by a pair of community residents.
“They are a father-daughter team, they have been doing it for eight years now,” he says. “They fix up any cracks that come throughout the winter and then repaint it and put a nice varnish on to protect it.”
Because of that time and effort, the loss is being felt by beyond just those that work at the bakery.
“They spent quite a bit of time on it,” he explains. “They are quite saddened as well.”
Uncle Mike’s is encouraging the community to keep their eyes open for the turtles and if they spot anything to give them a call.
In fact, they are willing to reward anyone that takes the time to spread the word and share their Facebook post about the missing turtles.
The bakery says they will reward anyone who shares the post with a free half kringle from their shop — pending the turtles’ safe return.
