Investigations are underway after the "heartbreaking" theft of a bronze artwork at Belmont over the weekend.
Callous thieves cut through a bronze cast of an Aboriginal stringybark canoe that formed the centrepiece of 'Gunyah and Canoe' - the major public artwork component of Lake Macquarie City Council's Fernleigh Awabakal Shared Track project.
Installed just four months ago, the artwork by Julie Squires, Shellie Smith and Daniella Chedzy reflected the cultural significance of the area to the Awabakal people.
It was cast from a life-size bark canoe crafted in the traditional method by a group of Aboriginal community members led by Worimi canoe-maker Luke Russell, and included casts of actual flathead fish and handmade fish-hooks and twine.
Council Deputy CEO Tony Farrell said the artwork had quickly become a landmark along the new shared track.
"Everyone involved in the project is absolutely devastated," he said.
"Great care and effort went into the creation of that canoe and the accompanying bronze gunyah to ensure they were both accurate representations and meaningful symbols of the area's Aboriginal heritage."
"The artwork represents much more than the value of its bronze. It was positive community exercise to create it, and helped explain how Belmont Lagoon was used by the Awabakal people for millennia."
Comprehensive anti-theft measures were taken during construction and installation, including welding over nuts, placing extra welds on the footings and then concreting over the footings to prevent access to them.
But the thieves bypassed those measures by cutting through the bronze sculpture itself.
Artist Julie Squires said the thieves might mistakenly have thought that the sculpture was made from copper, but bronze is an alloy of copper and tin.
"It's absolutely heartbreaking," Ms Squires said.
"I've been doing bronze sculptures for over 30 years all over the country and I've never seen this before."
"We went to extreme lengths to make sure it couldn't be stolen. To grind and cut through the bronze would have taken an hour or two at least, and even then it was a couple of hundred kilos so it couldn't have been carried off without multiple people. We needed a crane to lower it into place."
"They will get a rude shock when they realise it can't be sold as copper," she said.
Bahtabah Local Aboriginal Land Council CEO Carol Proctor was equally dismayed by the theft.
"There is a lot of disappointment that something that is such an important cultural representation for the people in our mob has been disrespected in such a terrible way," she said.
"It has been removed from a site that is so significant to us."
Anyone with information about the theft or who witnessed any suspicious activity in the area over the weekend is urged to contact Council on 4921 0333 or Lake Macquarie Police/Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.
