558 N. Main St., Prineville, OR 97754 | (541) 447-6205
Donald and Coral Baker stand at the scene of the crime where their plastic rabbit decoration was stolen.
The home of Donald and Coral Baker looks ready for the upcoming Easter holiday.
The front yard of their northwest Prineville home is filled with a host of Easter-themed decorations.
Passersby will see a variety of oversized pastel-colored eggs, several plastic Easter bunnies and even a makeshift Easter basket large enough to fit several full-grown adults inside.
But the decorations are no longer complete - Papa Rabbit has been stolen.
The theft likely took place during the late hours of Sunday night.
"The last time he (Donald) went out was around eight o'clock (Sunday) night," Coral said. "Sometime between then and seven Monday morning he found Papa Rabbit was gone." She added that the thief tried to steal Mama Rabbit, but failed in their attempt.
The Prineville Police were called upon to look into the matter, but by press time the rabbit had not been located.
Donald and Coral picked up Papa and Mama Rabbit - as well as three baby rabbits - more than 10 years ago at the Bend K-Mart before they went out of business. Monetarily speaking, the loss of Papa Rabbit comes to about $50, but for the Bakers the loss is even greater for another reason.
"They (Bend K-Mart) have been gone for 10 years, so Papa Rabbit is irreplaceable," Coral said "There isn't any more like him."
In the wake of the theft, Donald and Coral are left wondering why anybody would steal a yard decoration for no apparent reason.
"It really is very heartbreaking to know that somebody would do this," Coral said. "I could see them stealing for food because times are tough, but I cannot condone stealing it just to be destructive."
The heartbreak is compounded by the amount of time invested in decorating the yard and the reason they go to all the trouble.
"It's for the children of Prineville," Coral explained. "It's just something we started doing for our children when they were little, but now they're grown. Now we do it for the kids of Prineville."
Coral estimates that Donald invests about three weeks time decorating the yard for Easter. He decorates the yard for Christmas and Halloween as well, devoting several weeks to each of those projects.
"It's heartbreaking that something you put a lot of time and effort into and love doing for the children - it breaks my heart to think someone would be this cruel," Coral said.
In spite of the theft, the Bakers fully intend to continue decorating for Easter as well as Christmas and Halloween in future years. In fact, this isn't the first time their d‚cor has been tampered with. A few years back, somebody cut the wires on their outdoor Christmas light display.
"It just makes him mad and he goes out and gets more stuff for next time," Coral said about Donald's reaction.
That being true, they would prefer to keep up their decorating ways with Papa Rabbit in the fold.
"I would just like them to return him," Coral said.
