‘Iconic’ fish-shaped weathervane stolen from Truman’s Beach
A treasured piece of Orient-East Marion Park District memorabilia has been stolen.
The fish-shaped weathervane that has stood perched atop sheds at the Truman’s Beach parking lot for the past 50 years disappeared last week — much to the disappointment of the park district trustees who oversee the property.
“It is sort of iconic for the district,” said the park district chairman, Water Strohmeyer. “It is disheartening.”
The district’s three trustees first noticed the weathervane missing last Tuesday. When they went to investigate, they discovered a lock on the shed had been broken, and found evidence that someone used a chair from inside the shed to reach the weathervane on the roof.
Police are actively investigating the theft but there are few leads, Southold Police Chief Martin Flatley said.
“I don’t believe officers had much to go on as far as their investigation into this incident,” Chief Flatley said. “But all of our officers are aware of the crime and will definitely be looking for the vane in their patrols.”
Why the motivation for stealing the antique isn’t known, the trustees are guessing it might have been targeted since it is made of copper, which can be easily sold for cash.
“It is not so nice out here anymore,” lamented park district trustee Louis Wirtz. “Something like we’ve never seen before.”
