CAMDEN — It's been a good early week for crime solving in the Midcoast, what with Rockport police nabbing an alleged pharmacy robber and now Camden police recovering a stolen gold rooster weathervane top.

Monday, Camden Public Library Director Nikki Maounis called the police to report that the gold-leaf rooster atop one of the Amphitheatre gatehouse roofs was stolen.

Wednesday morning, Camden Parks and Recreation crew members Richelle Gagne and John Gould parked the town truck back behind the Amphitheatre to do some grounds work and grass cutting, according to Camden Detective Curt Andrick.

"When they came back to the truck, someone had put a plastic trash bag in the bed of the truck and the rooster was inside," said Andrick. "Somebody must have had a change of heart."

Gagne was not only aware of the rooster weathervane due to her job, but likely well aware of the theft as her husband, Randy Gagne, is Camden’s police chief.

Library staff had posted news of the theft of the rooster on the library's Facebook page earlier in the week, hoping to garner the public's help. This reporter picked up on that tip late Tuesday afternoon and had the story on the to-do list for the following morning when Andrick was back in the office. Alas, sometimes the news doesn't happen as one expects, and sometimes it comes in a nearly-tidy package.

The rooster, and the windjammer weathervane on the opposite gatehouse, have graced the entrance and been focal points of countless numbers of tourist photos for decades. They have been in place since the 1930s, when Mary Bok, Fletcher Steele and Frederick Law Olmstead Jr. collaborated with the town to turn the land, donated by Bok, into the library, Amphitheatre and Harbor Park, also eventually becoming a National Historical Landmark.

"The rooster is historically significant to the library, as well as sentimentally important," said Maounis. “It was restored and refurbished in the mid-2000s when the grounds underwent restoration work.”

Maounis was in her office at the library Wednesday morning when Andrick walked in carrying the rooster. Suffice it to say, the look on staff faces was shock, but also happiness that it had been found and was still intact, undamaged.

The unanswered question is who took it, and also why; but for now, the good news is there is a happy ending — that being the rooster is back home where it belongs.

Andrick said he is also investigating a string of street sign thefts, and a burglary at the Long Grain restaurant on Elm Street downtown. He said the burglary occurred Thursday or Friday of last week, and there were items taken. He said there are leads he is following up on.

“The signs are being stolen town wide, and they are just taking the signs, not the posts,” said Andrick. “If anyone notices a vehicle parked near a sign overnight and people milling around, it’s worth a phone call so we can check it out because we have officers on duty at that time.”

Related story:

• Rockport police charge Owls Head man following pharmacy robbery

Editorial Director Holly S. Edwards can be reached at hollyedwards@penbaypilot.com or 706-6655.