[MSN] Thieves strike Canyon Road galleries

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Thieves strike Canyon Road galleries

Thieves struck two Canyon Road galleries over the weekend in incidents police believe could be related.

A 10-inch tall wooden dove was stolen from Gallerie Corazon and a 4-foot tall green bronze sculpture taken from the front of Seven-O-Seven Contemporary gallery nearby.

``We've never been hit before,'' said Tess DeGange, a Seven-O-Seven employee. ``We like to think we've been christened and that now it won't happen again.''

The stolen sculpture, created by artist Mike Cunningham, is valued at $14,000, DeGange said. DeGange said the gallery she works for digs its sculptures into the ground so that they are difficult to remove. DeGange said she did not believe thieves stole the sculpture to sell it again, but that maybe someone just wanted a decoration or thought they were playing a joke.

Galleries on Canyon Road have been plagued by theft and vandalism in recent months and years. In September, Zaplin Lampert Gallery, Pushkin Gallery and Geronimo restaurant were vandalized. During that spree, a limestone sculpture of a pink flamingo at Zaplin Lampert worth about $7,000 was destroyed.

In January, Meyer Gallery was hit. In 2005, Reflection Gallery, Strong Fox Gallery and Nathalie all had thefts or were vandalized. Sculptures along the road are often targeted, but paintings have also been stolen. Much of the stolen art has not been recovered.

Santa Fe police Capt. Gary Johnson said the department now has a detective assigned to the area.

The wooden dove was stolen between 6 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday from Gallery Corazon, 703 Canyon Road, and the sculpture was taken from Seven-O-Seven, 707 Canyon Road, between midnight Saturday and 9:45 a.m. Sunday.

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