Stolen statue of children on a teeter-totter recovered

The bronze statue of two children on a teeter-totter has been returned to the subdivision from which it was stolen.

“We got it back yesterday afternoon,” John Oborny, president of the Enclave Homeowners Association, said Friday. “It was kind of crazy. Wichita police called and said they had it and five minutes later, they brought it to my house.”

Oborny confirmed it was the statue stolen from the entrance to the subdivision across the street from Auburn Hills Golf Course, in west Wichita, sometime late last week.

While police released few details, Oborny said he was told a man called police after seeing a story about a statue being stolen and recognized that he had just bought it from someone. Police picked up the statue and contacted Oborny.

“We’re going to put it back,” Oborny said of the statue, which weighs more than 500 pounds and is estimated to be worth at least $5,000.

The statue had been held in place by bolts, but Oborny said those bolts had become so rusty in the nine years the statue has been in place that they were essentially useless.

“I think we’re going to set it in the concrete, so if they want it, they’re going to have to take the whole slab,” he said with a chuckle.

No arrests had been made in the case as of Friday afternoon, Capt. Jose Salcido said.

“A lot of the homeowners were pretty excited to hear we got it back,” Oborny said.

This story was originally published October 9, 2015 at 3:25 PM with the headline "Stolen statue of children on a teeter-totter recovered."