The metal jedi master was taken from a Madras Street property in the suburb of Khandallah on Tuesday night. Photo: Facebook / Police
The theft of a unique sculpture of the movie character Yoda from a Wellington home this week is "heartbreaking and disappointing", says one of the co-ordinators of a local Star Wars fan community.
Police said the metal jedi master was taken from a Madras Street property in the Wellington suburb of Khandallah on Tuesday night.
Kristy Glasgow, who runs Star Wars New Zealand (SWNZ) with her husband Matt Glasgow, said she did not know the owner and heard about the theft on social media.
"But I imagine, putting that much work into a statue, they must be a big Star Wars fan or a big Yoda fan."
The Star Wars community was very creative but the sculpture was particularly distinctive, she added.
"It looks incredible and I can imagine there would be a lot of people thinking to themselves I would actually commission something like that for my backyard if I knew somebody who was able to work like that."
The Star Wars community was highly creative, with many people producing everything from lifesize figures of droid robots, to costumes and canvases, but the Yoda sculpture was particularly distinctive.
"Metalwork is so unique, and it's such an incredible statue. We fans have a lot of Star Wars collectibles within our homes [but] it would be really fun to have more collectibles in our gardens and outside the houses that we decorate with Star Wars things [inside]. It's a real shame to hear that something that somebody's clearly put a tonne of work into has been stolen."
"It's clearly a labour of love, something that they've spent just absolutely hours and hours on."
Police said the sculpture would not have a high scrap metal value, and the theft had left the owner understandably upset.
Glasgow said given the sculpture's size she thought it was probably still in the Wellington region.
"I really hope that the item can be recovered. It's getting media attention and it's very recognisable. I hope they leave it somewhere so that the owner can recover it because I can only imagine how heartbreaking this must be for the person who put all of that work and effort into it."
Anyone with information is being asked to contact police.
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