On July 23, part of Floyd’s iconic Marilyn Monroe mural was stolen – the second time in 12 months! She’s since been reunited with the diner, but not without enduring quite the ordeal…
The section depicting Marilyn’s face disappeared causing an online storm. The remaining pieces, which were damaged in the theft, were taken down and placed in storage, said Joel O’Rourke, a server at the restaurant.
“It was kind of torn off the wall a bit,” O’Rourke said of the stolen piece. “The back piece where we had it connected is a bit torn up, but really nothing that affects the esthetics of the front.”
As reported by Victoria Buzz on Monday, the mural showed up outside Royal Athletic Park during the Victoria HarbourCats games.
According to The Times Colonist the missing piece was found by none other than HarbourCats assistant general manager Brad Norris-Jones.
Floyd’s staff members who also operate a food venue at HarbourCats games, were excited when it was reported that Marilyn’s face was back.
The mural, of a Marilyn Monroe wrapped in silk bed sheets and cracking an egg into a glass, is a 3.5 metre-long plywood-mounted painting. It had been attached to an exterior wall at the Floyd’s for only a few months when it first went missing in August 2014. It was found a few weeks later behind a garbage bin in an alley.
With this second disappearance comments and concerns flooded in, with even offers to create a new painted mural on the diner’s Facebook group.
According to O’Rourke, people have been asking about the mural. “Once all is said and done, we can laugh about it. When it happens second time, it kind of gets a bit old. We don’t want this to become an annual affair.”
He believes the mural’s high profile as a result of the thefts increased the likelihood that the stolen piece would be returned.
“People knew too much about it already for it to go unnoticed. We’re all happy to get it back, but I don’t think any one of us was too surprised,” he said.
The mural could be reinstalled in about a week, complete with a few needed touch-ups by artist Paul Archer.
– See more at: http://www.timescolonist.
