Big Mango, a 10-tonne, 30-foot high fiberglass structure and a main tourist attraction in Queensland, Australia, is missing after thieves stole it, officials said Monday.
An employee at the Bowen Tourist Information found the 10-tonne Big Mango missing and informed the authorities.
"I got a phone call from Christin Short, the tourism manager ... I thought she was joking to start off with, but she said 'no, I'm serious', so I've come out and sure enough the mango has disappeared," Paul McLaughlin, chairman of Bowen Tourism, told the Australian Broadcast Corp.
He also suggested that the theft took place between midnight and 2 am. CCTV footage showed at least six people in a large crane going north toward the Big Mango, McLaughlin said. It cost around $81,000. Furthermore, there were big tyre marks near the crime scene. "No one in their right mind considered for a second that someone would take a giant three-storey-high, 10-tonne Mango. It's not like it's something that can be easily hidden," he told The Australian.
Police officials said they were investigating the CCTV footage. However, no one has been listed as a suspect.
McLaughlin said that the Big Mango cannot be left hidden for long. "At the end of the day it's a bloody big mango and I'm sure someone will see it and we'll find it anyway," he said. "I think it'll definitely turn up, no doubt about that. We're not sure what has happened but I'm sure we'll get it back."
The Big Mango was put on display in May 2002 and is located at the Bowen Visitor Information Centre, 4 km south of Bowen on the Bruce Highway. Bowen is the mango production capital of Australia. Mike Peterson, a Burdekin Shire councilor suggested a big mango for Ayr, north of Bowen, according to Tourism Bowen website. Local doctor Geoff Ingham started the project and established the Big Mango Trust to help fund and build it.
