Pasadena : Reward in Mural Theft

A $500 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who stole a portion of a mural painted on a fence on Pasadena Avenue.

Kent Twitchell, the outdoor muralist who headed the painting project, and three students who worked with him have offered the reward. The students, Cynthia Cable, Bonnie Nelson and Dian Allison, were among 20 in a Pasadena City College class that painted Pasadena scenes on the fence all summer. The fence borders the construction site for a new main building for Huntington Memorial Hospital near California Boulevard.

Twitchell said he believes the thief of the 4-by-8-foot panel probably took it to have something to brag about. “No one who cares about art would do something like that,” Twitchell said. “A reward will negate the person’s bragging rights and may act as a deterrent to other vandals. If people risk being reported, they can’t brag about their mischief.”

The panel, missing since Sept. 27, was a picture of a sphinx in front of the Pasadena Scottish Rite Temple. Twitchell valued it at between $4,000 and $5,000. Police said they have no witnesses or suspects.