Stardome Observatory copper theft: Vandal thieves cause up to $200,000 damage

Thieves have stripped away as much as 70 per cent of the copper sheeting on Auckland's Stardome Observatory dome.

Brazen thieves have potentially caused up to $200,000 damage to one of Auckland’s most iconic attractions after stealing “gorgeous” copper sheeting from the Stardome Observatory and Planetarium.

The “gutting” theft is more akin to vandalism than stealing as the copper is worth roughly only $1000 as scrap, Stardome chief executive Victoria Travers says.

Police have called the theft “deplorable”.

Travers said the thieves clearly planned the theft as they broke in overnight Sunday with equipment used to “cut and rip” as much as 70 per cent of the sheeting lining the observatory dome.

The dome houses the Edith Winstone Blackwell Telescope - which an estimated million-plus Kiwis have used to gaze at the heavens since it was installed in 1967 - and was crafted along with the telescope in East Germany.

“I don’t know if you’ve seen this sort of telescope dome before, but they’re just gorgeous.

“So it’s really upsetting for all of the staff and some of our volunteers, who were actually here when it was installed.”

Adding to the cost and upset of staff is that Stardome Observatory and Planetarium has been undergoing major repairs and upgrades and was due to reopen on June 19.

It closed last December after sourcing funding to replace its seating and leaky roof and redevelop its gallery spaces.

The Stardome Observatory dome in action before it was damaged.

The copper stolen from the Stardome Observatory dome is only worth about $1000.

The repairs mean Stardome is effectively a worksite, surrounded by a fence and with temporary plastic sheeting overhead.

The thieves apparently used a large vehicle and went in through the fence, before climbing up scaffolding to cut away the copper, Travers said.

“They knew that the copper was there, and it had been planned and would require probably a few people to carry out,” she said.

“At least half of the copper has been removed, and the rest of it is sort of peeled up because it’s quite high up the dome.

“They’ve taken as much as they possibly could would be my guess, and it would require a decent-sized vehicle to put in, not something you put in the boot of a car.”

Travers said police had been fantastic in their response to the theft, and an alert had been put out to scrap metal resellers to look out for the copper.

Illustration / Rod Emmerson

“And if anyone sees anyone with a huge wad of copper in their backyard, please call the police,” she said.

Police are investigating the theft.

They said thieves pulled the copper off the dome after climbing up to it, rolled it into balls and then threw it off the scaffolding’s edge.

“Stealing copper from one of Auckland’s icons is deplorable,” Inspector Rachel Dolheguy said.

“If anyone has unwillingly purchased copper and you are unaware of where it has come from please come forward.”

Travers said it is too early to know the cost of the damage but it could be as much as $100,000 or $200,000.

Even if the copper is recovered, it will not be easy to fix.

“All the pieces need to be cut in a certain way,” she said.

“It’s so bespoke that you need a craft person who’s very familiar with working with this product.”

Stardome Observatory and Planetarium chief executive Victoria Travers. Photo / Rich Parsonson

The copper dome was built before the fall of the Iron Curtain.

It is one of only around 25 of its kind in use around the world, and is the largest publicly accessible telescope in the North Island.

The Zeiss telescope - named after its donor Edith Winstone Blackwell - also had a major 18-month upgrade through 2021 to computerise it.

Before that, the half-tonne telescope had to be moved manually to focus on new parts of the night sky, including when assisting Nasa’s Apollo moon landings.

Travers said her team is still on track to reopen Stardome on June 19 with its upgraded roof, seating and gallery.

But the telescope won’t be available for use, and will likely take “many months” before it is running again.

“We’ll be talking to the insurance company obviously, but we won’t know the outcome of that for a few weeks in terms of how much it’s going to cost,” Travers said.