EPD: No Deterrent for Thefts; $3,000 Painting stolen

Eureka, CA- Local artists are fed up with thieves taking their prized possessions. An expensive painting was recently stolen from a popular “Arts Alive Studio,” yet police say their hands are tied.
 

"We've never had anything taken of the walls."
 

It was the Tuesday after Arts Alive.
 

"The door was left open and someone came up between 9:30 and 10 and lifted the painting,” says painter Rachel Schlueter.
 

She says it was heavy, large, and expensive painting; worth $3,000, but it was not for sale.
 

Schlueter says, "It's like created, like sort of a vacuum in my life and into my energy that I’m still trying to understand."She’s not the only frustrated artist who’s been hit by brazen thieves.
 

Another local studio was hit in September. Someone took an estimated $5,000 worth of paintings. Eureka Police Chief Murl Harpham says the issue is often seen with repeat offenders.
 

“We're just not getting people in jail for theft. You know they're being released and so there’s no deterrent not to commit theft because we have people on probation, on probation, on probation," said Harpham.
 

Luckily for one artist, his stolen, hand carved-lizard was brought back after it was allegedly stolen from The Natural History Museum. He’s lucky because in most cases, when it’s gone; owners never see it again.