Lorax on the Loose

A 2-foot statue of the children’s book character was stolen from Dr. Seuss’ estate in San Diego. Audrey Geisel, widow of the beloved author, whose real name was Theodore Geisel, noticed the statue and its tree-stump base were missing from the garden Monday morning.

The property manager said he saw the statue on Saturday afternoon, indicating that the statue was likely stolen over the weekend.

The property manager said that he found footprints indicating the thieves had dragged the 300-pound statue to an access road and lifted it over a fence.

Giesel’s daughter, Lark Grey Dimond-Cate, cast two of the sculptures.

One was the lone Seuss character to reside on the family’s property overlooking the Pacific Ocean in La Jolla. The other sits at the Dr. Seuss national memorial in the author’s hometown, Springfield, Mass. Theodore died in 1991 at age 87.

“I want very badly to get our little Lorax back home where he belongs," Dimond-Cate said. “Wherever he is, he’s scared, lonely and hungry. He’s not just a hunk of metal to us. He was a family pet.” 

The Lorax has enjoyed special notoriety because of the recently released film version of Dr. Seuss’s 1971 environmental fable, in which the mustachioed main character speaks out for the Truffula trees against corporate greed, personified by the once evil-Ler.

Dimond-Cate said she actually hopes the Lorax was stolen because of his new-found fame. Otherwise, it could mean he was stolen for the bronze.

“I hope he hasn’t been taken across the border into Tijuana for scrap,” she said. “Worst-case scenario, I’ll get the foundry to create another one, but he won’t be the same.”

The property manager said the statue was stolen just before security cameras were installed, and few knew it was there.

Audrey Geisel doesn't want to punish anyone and just wants the Lorax back, the property manager said.