Days after another swine was swiped, Liberty, the Pigtacular Pig for Pine Bush Elementary School, was found after being stolen on Saturday.
It was the second pig-napping in two weeks after Liberty was stolen from his pen in front of the school. A woman driving by spotted the pig on Monday night near the school.
`Somebody observed the pig in back of a gravel pile and called us,` said Guilderland Police Chief James Murley. `I was glad that it was returned.`
Jane Schramm, executive director of the Guilderland Chamber of Commerce, said having found the pig was a pleasant surprise.
`People in the community were so good as to help keep an eye out,` she said.
Liberty was one of 28 pigs sponsored by local businesses as part of the Chamber of Commerce’s Pigtacular event. Sponsoring the replica, full-sized pigs carries a price tag of $500.
According to Murley, the police department is in the process of trying to lift fingerprints off the pig, which sustained a minor crack in the ordeal.
Murley said the police department does not take the thefts lightly, adding in this instance that trespassing was involved.
`It’s serious,` said Murley, `it’s a crime.`
The whole incident began on Saturday.
`They did it in broad daylight,` said Schramm.
The pig was glued to the cement in his pen and in order to take Liberty the thieves had to pry the pig off at the hooves to set it free.
Following the incident, Schramm said neighborhood children reported seeing a number of what they thought to be teenagers hanging around the pig throughout the week.
Last weekend, Town Center’s pig, Bruce Pigsteen, was taken and later returned to the plaza’s Price Chopper by a local woman. In that instance, Bruce Pigsteen was not secured and he was removed from his pen sometime last Thursday night or Friday morning. That pig was not damaged significantly, suffering small scratches, and its clothing was later found.
Since Liberty had to have its hooves pried in order to be stolen, the damage was more significant. Schramm said she thinks it will be repairable.
While many of the businesses participating in the Pigtacular will auction off their pigs for charity at the Pigtacular’s last event, Hogtoberfest, Schramm said the Pine Bush Elementary told her they had hoped to hold onto Liberty.
`They’re absolutely thrilled,` said Schramm, of the pig’s return. Schramm said the school had been looking at keeping the pig as an `unofficial mascot.`
`It’s a shame when people do the wrong thing,` said Schramm, `but it’s spectacular when people chip in and do the right thing.`
Following the theft last week, Schramm warned that pig sponsors throughout the community need to take caution that their pigs are properly secured and if not to make sure they are taken in at night.
`We certainly want the community to enjoy them,` said Schramm, `but we don’t want to risk losing them.“