Artist Reports 6 Mosaics Stolen From Her Yard

For more than 10 years, local artist Helle Scharling-Todd displayed six large mosaics in her frontyard on Preble Avenue in Ventura.

“They were for people to enjoy as they walked by,” Scharling-Todd said. “They helped personalize the neighborhood.”

But about three weeks ago, the six mosaics--which weighed about 100 pounds apiece--were stolen. A tall mosaic sculpture, an abstract work depicting three people, was almost removed too. The screws affixing the sculpture to its concrete base were all loosened, Scharling-Todd said.

“I am quite disillusioned that somebody could take pleasure in removing something so personal,” she said. “I guess I had too much faith.”

The theft was reported to the Ventura Police, but they have no leads in the case, according to Scharling-Todd.

The mosaics were made from pieces of opaque glass, each painstakingly chipped to the right size. They took about two months each to create.

“They were very abstract,” she said. “I never thought anyone would be interested in taking them. We’ve left them leaning against the house while we were away on vacations.”

Scharling-Todd estimates the art’s value at about $15,000 but said they are far more valuable to her for their sentimental value.

Scharling-Todd, a Denmark native, studied her art form in Italy, Germany and Mexico.

Several of her mosaics adorn public buildings in Ventura County, including the Port Hueneme and Ventura County Community College libraries.