A quartz rock weighing three-quarters of a tonne has been stolen from
the National Rock Garden in Canberra, Australia. The National Rock
Garden is designed to showcase rocks from all over Australia. The stolen
rock from Bendigo was donated by a mining company to symbolize
Victoria's gold rush history.
Rock Garden chairman Brad Pillans says flecks of gold in the rock may
have attracted thieves. "They've trucked the rock away. They may well
try to crush it up and extract the gold," he said. "The silly thing is
they've caused thousands of dollars of damage to the exhibition and
taken a rock which will be very difficult to replace, all for perhaps
$200 worth of gold."
Professor Pillans says some of the rocks in the garden are up to 16
tonnes in weight. "The display actually consisted of three rocks, one of
which is six tonnes, so that wasn't touched," he said. "But the most
spectacular rock, which was actually mounted on top of the larger rock
and secured with three metal pins, would have required a crane."
Professor Pillans is urging Canberrans to keep an eye out for the rock which is predominantly white in color.
"It would be a bit unusual for your neighbor to turn up with a big white rock," he
said. "If someone's seen a big white rock unloaded in someone's front
garden we'd like to hear about it." Anyone with information about the
theft or the rock's location is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
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