Mayor says Pania will rise again

As police continue their hunt for Napier's stolen Pania of the Reef statue, the city's mayor, Barbara Arnott, says a replacement will be made if it is not recovered.

Mrs Arnott, who was on her way home from Britain when she was given the news during a stopover in Kuala Lumpur, said the replacement would be commissioned if the original was not found.

She was further briefed on the theft this morning and said she was stunned and saddened by what had happened.

"It is such an enduring story of Napier which needs to be told. And the people of Napier have such strong emotional ties to Pania."

However, Mrs Arnott said she was optimistic the city would get Pania back. She dismissed all the possible scenarios for its theft, saying, "I simply don't care about all that. It is a crime and whoever did this has taken something that does not belong to them. They have taken it from the people of Napier."

Speculation continued as to what may have been the motivation behind the theft.

Napier area Taiwhenua deputy chairman Tipu Tareha said the theft followed earlier incidents in the city in which items special to Maori had been vandalised.

He said there was conjecture the theft might have been politically or racially motivated to upset Maori.

- NZPA