A Calgary family received a welcome surprise this week when a garden gnome that had been stolen a year ago was returned home.
The gnome didn’t come home alone — it was a part of a gift basket that included a photo album with 157 pictures of all of the travels it had been on in the past year. Along with the scrapbook, the package also had another gnome, a fridge magnet, a bar of soap and a map of all of the stops across the United States and Canada the yard ornament had made.
Though the gnome was missing for a year, the vacation it went on lasted four months and included 5,031 kilometres of travel across three states and two provinces.
Joe Butcher, who owns the gnome, said he didn’t think much of it when the ornament was first taken from his parents’ front yard. There were two gnomes under a large pine tree in front of the Tuscany home, the one that went missing had been painted by his sister five years before.
“We thought maybe some kids in the neighbourhood had seen him and maybe thought they would just take him for themselves and that was pretty much it,” Butcher said.
When it showed up on his driveway Wednesday, Butcher said he was shocked. He added he’d never heard of anything like this happening before, but after a quick Google search, he learned that this was not the first time a gnome had been stolen and then returned.
At first, he said he suspected a family friend who recently went on a vacation of snatching the gnome, but soon realized the travel timelines didn’t match up. As of Thursday, he had no idea who could be responsible but thinks it may have been a neighbour who often drove past their yard.
In the photo album, there was a note from the gnome-snatchers that read, “Sitting under the spruce tree watching the world go by was very depressing so I decided to see the world.” Butcher said that backs his suspicion that it was someone in the neighborhood.
The travelling gnome is a trend that started in the early 2000s and was popularized after Travelocity’s “Where is My Gnome” ad campaign. The ad features a gnome who is travelling all over the world and encouraging people to smell the flowers and explore.
Butcher said he hopes the person who borrowed his gnome was trying to bring the trend back into popularity, adding he would even continue it himself. He said he appreciates that someone took the time to orchestrate the travelling gnome and thanks them for bringing a smile to his family’s face.
“I’m going to put him back in the yard and I hope someone takes him again,” said Butcher.
“The amount of enjoyment we’ve gotten out of it, hopefully other people would too.”
When he looked through the photo album of the gnome’s adventures he said he was surprised by how far the gnome managed to get. The note also mentioned how difficult it was to bring this particular lawn decoration back in one piece, which leads Butcher to think the people had taken other gnomes travelling before.
The album included images of the gnome in Victoria, at Old Faithful geyser and even lounging atop a kangaroo at the sanctuary in Kelowna B.C. Butcher said that the ornament is better travelled than he is, despite him being from England.
After the gnome went missing from Butcher’s front yard, rocks painted like ladybugs started to appear day after day. Even when the rocks were moved, Butcher said he never drew a connection between them and the missing gnome, and still doesn’t know if there’s a link.
“If I could talk to the people that did this I would probably say ‘thank you,’ because it’s brought a different type of happiness into this household,” Butcher said.
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