Reward sees return of hefty bronze sculpture

The saga of the bronze sculpture stolen from a Waikanae restaurant has unfolded like a Quentin Tarantino movie - but with a happy ending.

Late on Thursday, October 6, ambitious thieves made off with Long Horizon - a Paul Dibble-designed sculpture weighing over a tonne - from outside the restaurant Swell.

Last night, the sculpture was safely back in the hands of its co-owners, Gavin Bradley and Maggie Mouat.

"It's a bit like winning Lotto, there's a feeling of elation," Mr Bradley said.

"We had started to feel we weren't going to see it again."

Yesterday morning, a man phoned the local newspaper, the Kapiti Observer, to say he knew where the sculpture was and wanted to exchange it for a reward.

After the man convinced the thieves to exchange the sculpture for the reward, he showed Ms Mouat and the Observer editor Diane Joyce video footage of Long Horizon.

"We decided to meet the demands, otherwise we would have never seen it again and it would have been cut to pieces," Mr Bradley said.

A group including Mr Bradley met two men in a churchyard in Waikanae, where the exchange was made.

Senior Sergeant Alasdair Macmillan, of Kapiti police, said police were notified 10 minutes before the drop-off.

A friend of Mr Bradley's rang the police after the drop-off with a registration number, and police later pulled over a car north of Otaki.

A man, the sole occupant of the car, will appear in court today facing accessory to theft charges.

Police are hunting the thieves and trying to recover the reward money.