AMHERST — At the Mill District along Cowls Road in North Amherst, a playground featuring Fiberglas animals has, for the past three years, brought joy to families who live there or visit to shop and eat.
At the Wonderland play area, children can play make-believe while others sit at benches and tables.
“We want people to congregate and gather all day,” said Tony Maroulis, vice president of Real Estate and Community Development for W.D. Cowls Inc.
Late Sunday night, though, the large pig, affectionately known as Pig-a-Sus, was stolen, with the theft captured on surveillance cameras showing six young men removing it and loading it into an SUV. The pig is estimated to weigh 400 pounds and is filled with cement and mounted on rebar.
“They have taken away something that is beloved for parents, grandparents and children and grandchildren to play on and hang out with,” Maroulis said.
Already, posters are being distributed reading “pig-napped!!!” showing the pig wearing a Pride Month ballcap reading “different rules” and with a rainbow-colored brim. The Mill District website and Facebook page also has information about the theft, which many believe was carried out by college students, based on the surveillance footage.
Hannah Rechtschaffen, director of placemaking and special projects for W.D. Cowls, said the pig’s disappearance is devastating for a place that tries to be a champion of students and building community.
“We know this is not reflective of all students, only the students who don’t grasp that they are part of something bigger,” Rechtschaffen said. “This behavior is not welcome.”
“The bottom line is we’d like it back. It does mean something to a lot of people,” Rechtschaffen said.
W.D. Cowls President Cinda Jones, who purchased the pig at the Brimfield Fair, said she is making investments in Amherst to provide more housing opportunities.
“We do not condemn and vilify all college students, but we will condemn and vilify the students who took Pig-a-Sus,” Jones said.
Maroulis said the Amherst and University of Massachusetts police are examining video footage and other identifying information from the videos.
Last year, a Fiberglas sheep was also stolen from the playground, but was found a day or so later in a nearby rental apartment. Jones opted to remain quiet at the time and not give the incident publicity, even though three of the four legs were broken off the sheep.
“Now I wonder if we should make examples of things like this that happen,” Jones said.
Street signs and other items have periodically ended up in dorm rooms and off-campus housing, but public art has typically been less susceptible to theft. In 2012, though, a concrete resin rabbit sculpture called “August Rabbit,” created by Lee Hutt of Holyoke, sat atop a large rock at Kendrick Park and was planned as the first installation of a natural children’s playground at the downtown green.
Less than a week after it was put there, the 20-pound artwork attached to the stone with stainless steel rods and epoxy was stolen and was never recovered.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
