A three-foot tall gnome is back home after being stolen from a west-end porch earlier this month.
“I am so relieved and happy to have him back,” said Jennifer Buchanan via email.
The gnome was the last gift from her mother before she died in 2013.
“I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders from the stress of it all,” continued Buchanan. “My kids freaked out when they saw him, they just kept yelling ‘Santa’s home!’ and hugging him.”
Bearing a resemblance to the infamous Christmas gift-giver, Buchanan’s two and four-year-old children often stopped to speak with the statue on the porch.
The gnome was taken from outside the family’s Alison Place home, near Gateway Drive, at about 5 a.m. this past Friday. At the time, no one was home, but the theft was captured by a security camera above the door.
After unsuccessfully searching the area for the statue, Buchanan turned to social media in an effort to retrieve it, offering a reward for its safe return.
On Tuesday night someone, whom Buchanan agreed to keep anonymous, reached out to say they had made arrangements for him to be returned.
“We got him back the same night, within an hour of them reaching out to me,” Buchanan said.
