Reward offered: 800-pound hammer suddenly missing from North Bay community center

An 800-pound hammer was stolen from a Healdsburg community center last week. Police are still looking for it. An 800-pound hammer was stolen from a Healdsburg community center last week. Police are still looking for it. Photo: City Of Healdsburg Photo: City Of Healdsburg Image 1 of / 17 Caption Close Reward offered: 800-pound hammer suddenly missing from North Bay community center 1 / 17 Back to Gallery

UPDATE: The City of Healdsburg tells SFGATE that the artist, Doug Unkrey, is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the return of the sculpture.

It might sound like part of the plot for a "Thor" film. And the truth, actually, is just as weird: Someone (or someones) heisted a massive, 800-pound hammer artwork from the lawn in front of a community center in Healdsburg.

The hammer, a $15,000 work on loan from the Voight Family Sculpture Foundation, went missing at some point on Friday night or early Saturday morning. No one saw it happen, and police have no leads.

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Police suspect the theft was carried out by more than one person based on its sheer size and weight; the handle is a wooden piece 21 feet long and the six-foot-tall head is made of a mix of steel and other metals, per the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. There's a chance that it was a mere prank, pulled off by some crafty locals, but no such progress was made investigating on that front either.

"(The thieves) uprooted the stand it was on and dragged it across the parking lot and probably put it on a truck, using a crane," Healdsburg Officer Daryl Erkel told the Press Democrat. "Or a group picked it up."

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The city of Healdsburg requests that anyone with information on the whereabouts of the hammer call the Healdsburg Police at 707-431-3377.

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at apereira@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira.

