Critter Capers Continue; As Wolves Return, Caterpillars Vanish

BY CLAIRE GALOFARO
AND DEBRA McCOWN
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER

Two wolves that disappeared from downtown Abingdon late Sunday reappeared early Wednesday, but three bronze caterpillars taken from downtown Bristol remain on the lam.

Investigators are considering the possibility that the critter heists are related.

“It’s odd that those [wolves] would be stolen at the same time, the same way as these [caterpillars] down here,” Bristol Virginia Police Sgt. Steven B. Crawford said Wednesday. “We’ll compare notes with the Abingdon Police Department to see if they are somehow linked.”

Abingdon officials offered an amnesty appeal earlier this week to encourage the return of the wolves. But Crawford said Wednesday that the caterpillar-nappers, if caught, could face felony grand larceny charges.

The missing bronze creatures are part of the Caterpillar Crawl, a scavenger hunt inspired by popular kids’ book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” that debuted in downtown Bristol on May 16.

The wolves, a series of fiberglass sculptures painted in various themes by local artists and installed Friday, are part of a fundraising effort for Advance Abingdon, the town’s main street organization.

CATERPILLER CRAWL

Intended to promoted literacy and downtown revitalization, the Caterpiller Crawl sends kids down Bristol’s State Street with a lime green map and a list of clues. Along the way, they find 10 tiny bronze sculptures created by local artist Val Lyle, half mounted in Tennessee and the other five in Virginia.

Crawl supporters suspect the heist, which removed three of the caterpillars from the Virginia side, was premeditated.

“Somebody is just being mean,” said Katy Sikorski, president-elect of the Junior League, the nonprofit organization that sponsored the crawl. “We talked about the possibility of vandalism, but it never occurred to us that someone would take them in less than a month. It’s heartbreaking. This was for children.”

Christina Blevins, executive director of Believe in Bristol’s Main Street program, said the sculptures were bolted into the ground 2 inches deep and glued in place. She and Sikorski speculate that the burglar came prepared with a hammer or bolt cutters.

Sikorski filled out the police report Tuesday, but she and Blevins have done some sleuthing on their own. They’ve contacted local pawn shops and scrap metal dealers and asked them to be on the look-out for a piece of bronze fruit with a caterpillar crawling out.

WOLF REAPPEARANCE

The search for Abingdon’s wolves was well under way Wednesday when Jackie Lohman, outreach coordinator for the Washington County Public Library, arrived at work to discover the missing critters tucked amid the shrubs near the staff entrance.

Library circulation specialist Debra Legg said, “They were put so beautifully under the window outside of the conference room, it looks like they should’ve been there all along.”

And as promised, no charges will be filed.

“Because they were brought back and they were brought back unharmed, we’re not going to press any charges,” said Gary Kimbrell, president of Advance Abingdon. “I don’t think I’ll be lenient if it happens again. ... One time is a prank, but … I don’t think it would be a joke the second time around.”

The theft put a dent in the project – forcing sponsors who paid $300 to $500 a sculpture to bring the wolves inside or otherwise hide them every night. The sculptures were originally designed as semi-permanent public art, installed in the downtown area for public viewing until they are auctioned off in the fall.

Kimbrell said because of the thefts, folks walking downtown in the evening won’t be able to see all of the wolves and the artwork that decorates them. Although he has a remedy in the works.

This weekend he’ll be more securely attaching the statues to their bases and then chaining them “to light poles, to trees, fire hydrants, signs” before returning them all to the street. He said he hopes to have that job done by Sunday.

“Thank you for returning them,” Kimbrell said, “but I’m still very upset that we went through this pain and we’re having to go through these extra security issues because of what they did.”

CONTINUING INVESTIGATION

In Bristol, Crawford said the police department plans to work with downtown businesses to get surveillance videos as it investigates the caterpillar thefts.

One of the missing sculptures, a fat caterpillar on a leaf, was taken from the steps of the Wachovia ATM. A caterpillar perched on an orange was nabbed from the corner outside Java J’s, and a cocoon is missing from a guardrail on the corner of Piedmont Avenue and State Street, Sikorski said.

Lyle said replacing the sculptures would take months and cost $500 each.

As soon as she heard about the thefts, Lyle said, she ran to replace the missing caterpillars with laminated photos, so kids could still do the crawl. But the photos were gone within 24 hours.

“It’s taken many dozen people hundreds of hours to make this project as a gift to the community,” Lyle said. “It’s great for our downtown economy, for promoting literacy. I went Saturday with a neighbor and her granddaughter. The little girl saw a ballet store and signed up for classes. She checked out eight books from the library. I bought new dance shoes, we went to an antique store, then Blackbird Bakery for cheesecake and fountain drinks. That would have never happened if it wasn’t for the Caterpillar Crawl.”

Crawford said the Police Department is asking anyone with information or who noticed anything peculiar about the missing caterpillars to contact the department’s anonymous tip line at (276) 466-TIPS.
There is a possible reward for information that leads to the caterpillars’ rescue. 

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