Stolen dinosaur statue returned to Chinatown overnight, BIA says

A pink dinosaur statue that was taken from its place on Somerset Street last week was returned in the middle of the night, the local BIA says.

The statue, part of a pair, was taken early Friday according to surveillance footage shared by the Ottawa Chinatown BIA over the weekend. Three women were seen in the video climbing on the statue and carrying it away at 3:24 a.m. according to the video's timestamp.

On Monday, the BIA said it had identified one of the people captured on video and passed her name onto police.

Tuesday morning, it said the statue had been returned.

"At 2:28 a.m. today, three individuals returned the stolen statue, confirming our earlier intelligence," a social media post said. "The current condition of the statue is yet to be confirmed. Although we acknowledge their decision to return the statue, we strongly encourage these individuals to surrender themselves promptly."

A surveillance picture shows three people dressed in black and covering their faces near the statue that was placed back with its green partner.

A surveillance image shows three people bringing a dinosaur statue back to Ottawa's Chinatown neighbourhood early Tuesday, July 4, 2023. (Chinatown BIA/Supplied)

A previous statement suggested the BIA may press charges, but those posts were deleted or edited from their respective sites.

"We will update the public on the progress of this case as soon as we hear from Ottawa police, who's been provided unverified information (names and an address) of the three individuals for further investigation," the BIA said.

"They made the right decision to bring this back," said Chinatown BIA executive director Yukang Li. "If you steal it, it's going to be a shame on you and I doubt you are going to share with anyone else because I doubt this would be something you're proud of." 

The dinosaur was not the only statue affected by a spree of vandalism. Several other statues around Chinatown have been damaged or have disappeared.

"This is very discouraging because this community was hit hard during the pandemic and our businesses are struggling just to survive," Li said. "We initiated this project to beautify our streets and attract tourists and visitors to this part of town. It is very sad to see that our efforts have almost come and went. The BIA just don't have the money to go through another round of installations or replacements."

The BIA told CTV News Ottawa the installations cost $200,000, funded through government grants as part of a revitalization effort. There are at least eight groups of statues placed along Somerset Street between Bronson Avenue and Preston Street. They range from iconic Chinese pandas to popular characters drawing from Asian culture.

In a statement to CTV News Ottawa on Tuesday, the Ottawa Police Service said it is aware of the incidents.

"On July 2, a report was made to the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) regarding an art theft in Chinatown last week; an art piece was stolen from the sidewalk. The Criminal Investigations Unit is investigating, and OPS is working with the Chinatown BIA to identify the suspects involved," police said.

"The OPS is also aware of other recent incidents (mischief and thefts); those matters are also under investigation."

--With files from CTV News Ottawa's Tyler Fleming and Jackie Perez.