A bronze statue stolen from a fraternity house at Oregon State University has been found in a Corvallis basement, police said.
The 3-foot-tall statue of the Roman god Vulcan was stolen from the Delta Chi Fraternity House on June 10. With the statue valued at as much as $100,000, an insurance company offered a $5,000 reward for its safe return. Once that hit the papers, Corvallis police got a phone call.
Acting on the tip, detectives went to a house and recovered the statue, which appeared to be in good condition. Police arrested Marcus Annis, 20, who lived in the house, and charged him with burglary and aggravated theft.
Police have not released the name of the person who phoned in the tip, and have not ruled out making additional arrests.
According to a police report, the statue was stolen sometime around 2:30 a.m. June 10. A fraternity member woke to the sound of someone opening the door to the sleeping porch and calling out “Hey guys!” When he went to check who it was, he found no one. But the statue was gone.
Detectives said the statue weighs between 60 and 80 pounds — heavy, but no so heavy that two people were needed to commit the theft.
The statue was given to the house in 1926, when Charles Rosenkrans, a recent graduate and member of Delta Chi, was killed in an accident. His family donated the statue of Vulcan, god of fire and metal working, to the house, where it had been on display for more than 80 years until the theft.
The artist remains a mystery.
Topics Fraud Law Enforcement
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