A WHAKATĀNE kiwi has done more travelling than anyone expected – considering it is made of bronze and meant to be glued to a floodwall in town.

One of Whakatāne Kiwi Trust’s 10 bronze statues, which make up the Kiwi Wandering Trail, was found last week after being stolen 18 months ago.

It was the third time the small bronze statue named Ōhope had been stolen.

Ōhope turned up at scrap metal dealer Macaulay Metals on Friday and was subsequently reunited with the kiwi trust, to the delight of volunteer and events co-ordinator Lydia Grunwell.

With Ōhope missing for so long, Ms Grunwell thought the statue was long gone.

The series of statues were originally donated to the kiwi trust as life-sized replicas of local kiwi.

Ms Grunwell said they were expensive to replace, and the trust was considering what to do about the missing statue before it was found.

Recently, a statue modelled after Miro, the first Ōmataroa Kiwi Project chick to come to Whakatāne, was stolen and returned.

Miro is now kept securely at Whakamax and, similarly, Ōhope will be kept at the Bay of Plenty Regional Council once it has been repaired.

Ms Grunwell said the regional council was the perfect location for Ōhope to be kept, because it was almost directly behind where the kiwi was originally located on the floodwall.

She said they did not want people following the trail to have to backtrack too much to find all the statues.

A small plaque has been placed where Miro originally stood, with a clue to where the statue now resides. Another plaque will be placed on the floodwall where Ōhope once stood.

Ms Grunwell said the kiwi trail was a great way for people who might otherwise not be able to get into the bush to see a kiwi firsthand, because of mobility difficulties or otherwise, to see a likeness up close.

She hopes that by summer all 10 kiwi statues will be back on the trail.

The statues were well liked by the community, Ms Grunwell said, and the kiwi trust had been flooded with support whenever one went missing.

“We appreciate everyone’s support in trying to find them. It has been awesome to see everyone’s excitement at getting them back.”

With all that support, Ms Grunwell is hopeful that thefts will stop.

Whakatāne councillor and former kiwi trust chair John Pullar said the return of Ōhope was a great outcome.

Fellow councillor Gavin Dennis happened to drop by Macaulay Metals and put the team in touch with Mr Pullar, who was able to reunite the kiwi trust with the statue.

“I was able to recover the foot; I couldn’t get the rest out of the wall,” Mr Pullar said.

“While I was doing that on Saturday morning, a lot of people came past and said they used to stop and give it a pat.

“It has been a worthwhile project really for people to be able to interact with.”

Ōhope was taken to Palmerston North this week for repairs by its creator, Liz Grant.

Whakatāne police inquiries into the theft of the statue and its subsequent return were under way, Senior Sergeant Helen Hay said.

“No arrests have been made, however, investigations are continuing and we are following up on strong leads.”