The owner of a gold and diamond statue, known as the Golden or Maltese Eagle, is issuing a public plea for information about its theft.
Ron Shore is offering a $10,000 reward to anyone for the return of the statue, valued at up to $9 million. Shore said he put everything he owns into the eagle, including the mortgage on his house. He said he has very little money left over.
The Maltese Eagle was taken from Shore in the 4700-block of 57 Street in Ladner on May 29. Shore says he was beaten up and robbed of the piece of art. He was treated at the hospital after the theft.
“One of the people who did this to me hit me very firmly and very squarely on the top of my head,” said Shore. “I didn’t realize it at the time, but at the moment of impact, there was a great deal of blood coming out of my head.”
Shore said he had the eagle created to raise money for breast cancer research. In a short amount of time, he lost his brother, his mother, and his sister-in-law.
Shore was hoping to sell the eagle to raise more money for breast cancer research.
“There’s little doubt in my mind that somehow I was followed from the Art Vancouver event,” he said. “I won’t get into specifics of where I was going or why I was going there.”
After being struck, Shore said he chased a man who got into a vehicle. When Shore reached in to the vehicle to grab the man, the door was slammed on his hand.
Delta Police say they are looking for a black, or dark blue, large SUV, possibly a GMC Yukon. Police do believe a second vehicle is involved as well – a red or burgundy smaller SUV, similar to a Hyundai Santa Fe.
“As the police, we follow the evidence,” said Detective Sgt. Brad Cooper. “And evidence that comes in, every person we speak to provides us a piece of the pie. And we have to work to corroborate the information everyone provides. What I ask, is that the public, the media, understand that there’s a lot of information that cannot be provided because of the type of investigation this is and because we are still working through the evidence we have already obtained.”
Shore said “under no circumstances, is this an insurance scheme or attempt to receive insurance funds.”
The statue was originally on display at an art showcase at the Vancouver Convention Centre and is considered Canada’s most valuable contemporary art piece.
The sculpture is solid gold with a diamond-covered head. It was created by artist Kevin Peters and took about 4,000 hours to create.
The most expensive part of the eagle is a 12.7-carat emerald found in a shipwreck off the coast of Florida, which is estimated to be worth $6 million alone. The statue also contains more than 750 diamonds and 18 pounds of gold.
Delta Police are asking the public to contact them with any tips about the whereabouts of the eagle or information on the crime to 604-946-4411. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous can contact CrimeStoppers at 1.800.222.8477 or solve crime.ca.