Residents go bananas over gorilla theft
Community members at a retirement village are celebrating the safe return of Garry the gorilla. You really couldn’t make this up.
This is not the first time a much-loved gorilla statue called Garry has gone missing.
In Carluke, Scotland, a 2.4-metre-tall gorilla statue disappeared from a garden centre in March 2023. A year later, road-maintenance crew members discovered the back half of Gary (with just one “r”) in a lay-by. The rest remains missing.
In June 2024, one of a group of Minions (characters from the Despicable Me film franchise) went missing from the roadside approaching the small Victorian town of Warrak.
In 2021, a Big Bird costume worth $160,000 was stolen from – and later returned to – the Sesame Street Circus in Adelaide.
When Garry the gorilla went missing, believed stolen, from Melbourne’s Leith Park retirement village, it sparked a month-long search, including the police helicopter.
The authorities eventually tracked down the critter in a Melbourne back yard.
Why do the retirees have a gorilla? That’s a good question and, while his origins are unclear, it is important to note that Garry is a statue. For years, he has taken pride of place in the village where residents apparently say “g’day” to him as they pass by.
But on the afternoon of 6 June, one resident went to make his usual greeting and noticed something didn’t seem right. Where was Garry? The 1.5 metre gorilla statue had vanished.
The mystery of Garry’s disappearance was a daily topic of conversation around the village, as was the ongoing investigation, described by police as “extensive”.
Calling in the police airwing, the investigations were narrowed down to a residence in suburban Reservoir, only a 20-minute drive from the retirement village.
The helicopter pilots spotted the statue in a back yard. A search warrant was executed, and police freed Garry.
It’s not known whether the gorilla got a grilling before being returned to the village by officers.
The Guardian reports the residents are so thrilled at Garry’s rescue that one of them, named Robyn, even baked biscuits with her grandson, who was excited at the prospect of taking them to the newly reinstalled gorilla.
Police investigations are continuing, and anyone who saw anything suspicious or who has CCTV footage is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Related reading: The Guardian, News.com.au
Picture: Victoria Police
