Sitting on a bench outside Wentworth Homemade Ice Cream in Hamden with a cone in his hand and his cousin by his side, are the backbone of some of Greg Foster’s greatest childhood memories.

Foster was the creator of the 12 inch “cone mouth” sculpture that was stolen off the counter of the ice cream shop Saturday afternoon.

“It all happened in about 90 seconds,” store manager Michele Montano said.

According to Montano, the unidentified male, appearing to be around 30-years-old, lingered around the store, looked over his shoulder and snatched the sculpture from the counter without purchasing anything.

Foster is a Southern Connecticut State University art graduate who has lived in Hamden for 40 years. He created the award-winning sculpture that traveled across the Durham Fair, North Haven Fair and an expo in Clinton before he gifted it to his childhood summer hangout last year.

“I was devastated when I heard,” Foster said. “It’s summertime. [Wentworth] is where people go with their families for ice cream. It was ripped from me and those families.”

Foster said he did not realize how impactful his sculpture was to Hamden until he saw comments on Wentworth’s Facebook post that has over 150 shares.

Wentworth reviewed surveillance footage once they realized the sculpture was missing and filed a report to Hamden Police Department.

According to Montano, the police think the issue is “insignificant.”​​​​​​​

“They want a monetary value, but it’s not about that,” Montano said. “It’s sentimental to us.”​​​​​​​

Foster and Montano believe the man is a local who knew about the sculpture prior to taking it from the community.

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