A stolen statue commemorating writer Ernest Hemingway outside the Beaver Island Public Library is back in its rightful place.
Police say sometime between sunset and 11:30 the thieves returned the statue to the library and bolted it back into the ground.
Patrick Mcginnity is the director of the Beaver Island District Library.
“Whoever took it actually had to bring their own bolts because the police took off the bolts for fingerprinting. They replace it with two of the correct bolts and one of them didn’t quite fit but they did their best to put it back on.”
Mcginnity said the statue is undamaged, and he thinks the police will drop the case.
“You know if they had found it in somebody's possession and it hadn't been returned then it would have gone on with charges and things but since it is back I have a feeling that will be the end of it.”
The Charlevoix County Sheriff’s office says it is still investigating who took the statue and how it was returned.
Patrick said it’s a relief to the library and the community as a whole that the statue is back.
“It’s a place where people don’t lock the doors on their house, people don’t take their keys out of their car. So there was a bit of tension about that and so the fact that it was returned, even though it was a dumb prank, people are more confident that things haven’t changed that much on Beaver Island.”
The sculpture was part of the Hemingway Sculpture Project commemorating the writer's time in Michigan.