A Northern California homeowner wants to solve the mystery of who stole Henrietta the hippopotamus.
Lynn McCarty said she bought the fiberglass animal about 10 years ago to place near her pool after it "retired" from a children's zoo. She said at the time, Henrietta had a broken mouth and her paint was chipped and peeling.
The homeowner said the thieves came in a large, white pickup truck and didn't take anything else. She was out of town at the time of the theft, McCarty said, and her neighbors saw the truck.
McCarty said she thinks the theft is likely a prank by local youths who have seen and admired the hippo in her front yard.
"I am really hoping to wake up one morning, look out and just find her back where she belongs," McCarty said via e-mail.
Henrietta weighs between 200 to 250 pounds and isn't easy to maneuver, McCarty said.
The hippo has a metal pipe behind her head and can be used as a fountain.
When the homeowner first got Henrietta, "she was a he," McCarty said via e-mail.
This article originally appeared on KCRA.
