Public art 'fixture' stolen

Photo: The Canadian Press

"Spindle Whorl," a First Nations piece of art created and designed by local carver Joel Good, is shown on display at Maffeo Sutton Park in Nanaimo, B.C.

RCMP say a piece of public art that was a fixture in downtown Nanaimo, B.C., has been stolen.

Mounties say in a news release that the carved wooden disc, known as a spindle whorl, was created and designed by local carver Joel Good.

The city of Nanaimo says online that spindle whorls were historically used for spinning wool into yarn and have become iconic symbols for members of the Snuneymuxw First Nation, with carvings that often depict family stories and legends.

The stolen cedar disc measures about one metre in diameter and was last seen on Thursday.

It isn't the only piece of outdoor art that has been stolen from the region.

Last summer, a large aluminum dragon sculpture disappeared from its perch in a Nanaimo park and a 135-kilogram Chinese terracotta statue vanished from a yard in Lantzville, about 15 kilometres away.

Rock Dragon 2.0, as the aluminum sculpture is called, was found swaddled in brightly coloured blankets in a library parking lot four days later.