Tusk Force Trophy : Stolen Teak Elephant Found Battered, Beached

Police finally got a break in the Case of the Purloined Pachyderm.

The 1-ton elephant of carved teak that disappeared last week from the front of the popular Royal Thai Cuisine restaurant on Coast Highway turned up on the beach Wednesday, less than a mile away.

The valuable carving was spotted by a jogger out for an early morning run along Seashore Drive near Balboa Peninsula.

“I couldn’t believe it,” said Mark Dolansky, 49, a local real estate appraiser, who stumbled upon the statue at 7:45 a.m. “There was this great big elephant lying in the sand. I thought, ‘What is it doing here?’ ”

Realizing it was the same elephant he had heard about on the radio the day before, Dolansky dashed back to his house to telephone police.

“I would have thought somebody would have seen it earlier, but nobody reported it,” he said.

Investigators said that they still had no idea who abducted the artwork, why it was stolen, where it had been or how it suddenly ended up in a sand pit between two seaside bungalows.

“That is all still under investigation, “ said Police Sgt. Andy Gonis. “Perhaps we’ll get some follow-up calls on it tomorrow.”

While police said they were pursuing the case, hoping that they will soon get a lead on the statue bandit or bandits, Royal Thai owner Sam Tila isn’t asking any questions. He is just counting his blessings that his prized elephant was found, even though it was damaged.

“I was real surprised they found it,” Tila said as a city-owned crane lifted the bulky piece of art from the sand and loaded it onto the back of a city pickup truck. “It’s like finding my lost child.”

The disappearance about 2:30 a.m. Friday left local residents and police wondering who had the gall--and the brute strength--to steal the carving that for months had stood just outside the front door of the restaurant.

The elephant, a traditional symbol of good luck for the Thai, was moved outside last fall as part of a restaurant remodeling project. It was purchased 10 years ago from the Queen Mary gift shop for about $4,000, just before the restaurant opened, Tila said.

“It was so nice (to have the carving situated) outside,” Tila said. “Everyone liked it. It was happy there.”

But someone who wanted it elsewhere managed to cut the chain holding the carving to a brick walkway and get it off the premises.

During its disappearance, customers prodded Tila for updates. Residents said they missed seeing the carving.

“I don’t know why anybody would do such a thing,” said 67-year-old Virginia Anderson, who jogs past the restaurant each morning. “When I saw that it was missing, I just about died.”

The elation of finding the carving was tempered, however, by the damage. The right tusk was missing, a part of its right ear was broken off and there were large scrapes and gouges along the body.

“It’s so sad,” Tila said. “Look what they did to the elephant.”

Tila said he had just about written off ever finding the statue, believing that it had been taken by professional thieves who were intent on selling it for a profit.

Police now believe that the theft was a prank, and that the thief got worried after virtually every Los Angeles and Orange County news organization reported the story.

Although Tila praised local media for the return of his elephant, some restaurant workers gave prayer and faith the credit.

Addy Chuengit, a cook, said that she “told Buddha that if elephant come back, I give chicken and duck offering to him.”

Today, she plans on making good her promise.

“I am so glad he comes back to me,” she said. “I was so sad. He is a symbol of Thailand.”