Grinches struck the Coupeville Chamber of Commerce less than a week before Christmas, stealing two bronze sculptures in the middle of the night.

Coupeville Deputy Marshal Brandon Reed said a sculpture of the little girl reading on a bench and second sculpture of a dog lifting its leg on a fire hydrant disappeared from outside of the chamber visitor center and office on Northwest Alexander Street on the night of Dec. 18 or the early morning of Dec. 19.

Reed said the thief or thieves obviously came prepared.

“They walked up to the sculptures with wrenches and unbolted them,” he said, adding that the thieves had trouble with one of the bolts and ended up breaking off and leaving a bronze bench leg behind.

Reed said the senselessness of the crime left him speechless.

“I literally don’t know why someone would steal them,” he said, pointing out that scrap dealers, pawn shops or other potential buyers would recognize them as stolen.

In fact, the deputy said he advised Chamber Director Lynda Eccles to get the word out about the crime on social media and elsewhere to make it as difficult as possible for the villains to unload their ill-be-gotten artwork. The hope, he said, is that they will just leave them on the side of the road somewhere.

“Coupe, our black lab and his fire hydrant, and Lucy, our adorable little girl reading her book on the bench,” Eccles wrote on the chamber Facebook page. “They are part of our firehouse home. They are some of the most photographed in Coupeville. Someone knits them scarves and hats in the winter. Others leave necklaces for different holidays. Others ask what book she is reading. She has Whidbey rocks left on her bench. They are part of the charm of Coupeville and visitors take family photographs with them. Coupe has dogs growl or bark at him. Children pet him.”

The sculptures were donated to the chamber about 12 years ago. Reed said Eccles is contacting the donors in order to get an estimate of the artworks’ value, which will determine whether stealing the sculptures is a felony crime.

Anyone with any information about the information can contact the town marshal’s office at 360-678-4461, extension 101. Reed said he is gathering surveillance video.

“It’s the holiday season,” Eccles wrote. “How could people be so mean as to do this in our lovely little town?”