A 500-pound stuffed polar bear was stolen from a wellness center in Alberta, Canada, leaving locals shocked and police baffled by the grand theft.
Thieves kidnapped 12- to 12-foot-tall Harry the polar bear during one of the coldest days at the former Lily Lake Resort, now known as Lionsheart Wholeness Center, located 30 miles north of Edmonton.
The taxidermied beast is seen stretching its mouth in a roar, standing atop a platform on the second floor as its head reaches the ceiling in a photo shared by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
“I actually didn’t realize how important this is because it’s so strange, right?” Wanda Rowe, executive director of the wellness center, said The balloon and the mail.
Alberta RCMP Constable Kelsey Davidge described the crime as “the big polar bear heist,” and urged residents to keep an eye out for the stolen bear in case it appears for sale online.
A 500-pound stuffed polar bear was stolen from a wellness center in Alberta, Canada, leaving locals shocked and police baffled.
Thieves kidnapped 12- to 12-foot-tall Harry the polar bear during one of the coldest days at the former Lily Lake Resort, now known as Lionsheart Wholeness Center, located 30 miles north of Edmonton.
Davidge said: “That would immediately catch your eye, if you saw it somewhere, right?”
Rowe filed the police report about the theft of the taxidermy bear on Jan. 22, but believes it was stolen a week earlier during the cold snap that hit the area.
He said regular 24-hour security patrols were canceled the night of Jan. 13, when temperatures dropped to -35 degrees with a wind chill that made it feel like -53 degrees in Alberta.
“There’s some irony in that, stolen the coldest day of the year… and a polar bear in central Alberta,” Rowe said. CTVNews.
The giant teddy bear had been secured in a building, but thieves broke in and cut the wires, Rowe said.
Drag marks were left everywhere as the thieves dragged Harry across the balcony, down the stairs and out the front double doors.
‘It had to be planned. It had to be 100 percent planned,” Rowe said, adding that the thieves must have had a truck waiting outside the front door.
She said: “At first it was emotional for us because it’s been here for a long time.” “We also felt violated that someone could come in and just take this.”
The polar bear named Harry has special meaning to the staff at Lionsheart, described by Rowe as a center for indigenous education and healing.
A restaurant at the complex was named Harry’s Den & Grill in honor of the bear, who had been on the property for years.
“He was really an icon here, and it’s strange to walk by and not see him now,” Rowe said. “There seems to be something missing.”
The resort lost a pair of stuffed raccoons in August of last year during a similar theft. The cost of three taxidermy animals in total was about $26,000, police said.
The giant teddy bear had been secured in a building, but thieves broke in and cut the wires.
The polar bear named Harry has special meaning to the staff at Lionsheart, described as a center for indigenous education and healing.
Indigenous cultural knowledge professor Andrew Nanooch said: “The bear is one of the most important symbols of our culture.”
‘Generations have seen things taken from us… it would be nice to get something back.’
The resort lost a pair of stuffed raccoons in August of last year during a similar theft. The cost of three taxidermy animals in total was about $26,000, police said.
in one of fur manufacturers websitesa stuffed polar bear similar in size to Harry’s is priced up to $29,850.
Harry’s heist also left Alberta residents in shock, with one person expressing disbelief during an interview.
‘Are you kidding me, right here on the premises? Some clue?’ -David Quinn asked. ‘Why would anyone want to do it with the polar bear? That’s crazy.’