Smog, overpopulation, poverty. Things are pretty tough in Mexico City these days -- tough enough to inspire thieves to rip off a large bronze sculpture from an outdoor exhibit on Reforma, the city's main thoroughfare.
According to a Reuters report, the daring burglars yanked the 3-by-2-foot statue off its steel base right under the nose of one of the city's notoriously armed police guards.
The surrealist winged sculpture, named "Corrunus," is the work of British-born artist Leonora Carrington. Among the 88 works on display in the "Liberty of Bronze 2000" exhibition, just two were tampered with -- and both belonged to Carrington. "Luna Leon," her other piece on display, was wrenched off of its base but was not taken.
The theft made all the local papers, and Isaac Mazri, president of the art fund that owns the sculpture, offered a reward of U.S.$5,250 for information leading to its recovery.
Perhaps this sum was not enough for the thieves, because they eventually dumped Corrunus in Chapultepec Park, where a jogger discovered it. Or maybe they just don't appreciate surrealist art. Too bad for them -- the actual value of the sculpture is estimated to be U.S.$50,000.
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