Jason Shaw
Leanne Dronet of Bristow awoke Sunday morning to find her 4-foot tall metal rooster missing from its permanent home at the front of her U.S. Route 28/Nokesville Road residence.
The rooster sculpture, which she had chained to a mailbox for two years, was taken July 27 between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
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"The thief ripped the mailboxes from ground to steal the rooster some time Saturday night," Dronet said.
Dronet said she posted news of the theft in area Facebook neighborhood groups, and she has received tremendous support from the community.
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"It's amazing as people are commenting about how they knew the rooster and loved seeing it and such," she said."I never really thought people liked it; I put it up so people could find our driveway and because it was funny."
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Many residents commented that they appreciated seeing the rooster painted differently for the various seasons and holidays.
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"Last November, I decided to start painting it for holidays: for Xmas is was red and green and for Easter it was white with pastel stripes and dots like an egg," she said. " I was trying to decide how to paint it for the rest of the summer as I knew we'd make it a pumpkin in October."
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She explained that the original idea for the sculpture came from a
blog.
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"It was hilarious, and I thought it would be funny to have one of these roosters; it took me six months, but I finally found one almost two years ago," she said.
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While she does not expect to receive insurance money for the rooster, Dronet is offering a reward for its return.
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"I'm thinking it was probably some 15-20-year-old boys, so maybe a parent will see it in their yard and would be willing to return it," she said.
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