This story is really sad. Hopefully this well networked hobby will uncovered the whereabouts if and when the piece sells. I wonder how the thiefs knew about the whereabouts of this item? Don't you think it would have to be someone close to the owners?
On a side note, when I was in college my forestry professor told our class about a company that would steal rare trees. They would show up at a home, either while the homeowners were at work or on vacation, disguised as a tree cutting service. The neighbors wouldn't even have a reason to question the tree service because they just figured the owners wanted it removed.
Imagine how stupified the homeowners were to return home and see a large void in their yard where a once proud Black Walnut tree stood for over 100 years.
I never thought that I'd ever hear about a story like that again until our local Public Broadcasting did a story about how people are destroying rare old-growth Juniper trees on federal lands in central Oregon. The story referenced a guy who is spending many years in federal prison for cutting down old-growth Cedars & Sitka Spruces in the Olympia National Forest in Washington State, some of the stumps which dated the trees at more than 500 years old.
Here is a similar story that appeared in the Seattle Times earlier this year if anyone is interested:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003710429_maple17m.html [This message has been edited by chadhaas (edited 11-09-2007).]
