“What was the Lorax? And why was it there? And why was it lifted and taken somewhere?” Police in San Diego are looking for answers to all these questions following a break-in at the home of the late Dr. Seuss.

Sometime between late March 24 and early March 26, thieves made off with a 2-foot-tall, 300-pound bronze statue of iconic Seuss character the Lorax, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. Lark Grey Dimond-Cate, step-daughter of Theodore Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss, created the statue in 2002. Seuss’s widow, Audrey Geisel, who still lives on the estate, says the family was days away from installing security cameras, which may have given a clue to the identity of the thieves.

Although Dimond-Cate told the source that her foundry could always re-cast the statue if the original is not found, it would not be the same. She expressed her concern that the statue was stolen for its bronze, and would be melted down for scrap.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau recently released a report showing metal thefts are on the rise across the country. Typical targets include copper wiring and catalytic converters, according to the agency, not the mythical environmental crusaders of famed children’s books.