'If it was a prank, bring him back, joke’s over', says owner

A Peggys Cove, N.S., tourism operator is searching for a stolen wooden carving of a fisherman affectionately named Shorty.

"There's people out there trying to help me find him," said Peter Richardson, the owner of Peggys Cove Boat Tours. "Bring Shorty back home."

He said the statue was taken from an outdoor picnic table area near Richardson's lobster roll food truck sometime between Sunday and Tuesday.

He is offering a reward for its return. He said he doesn't have any leads.

Richardson said thousands of tourists have stopped to take their photos with Shorty.

The statue is wearing yellow overalls and a sou'wester and stands at five foot two inches tall, weighing 120 pounds.

"If it was a prank, bring him back, joke's over," said Richardson.

"If it was a theft, call me and I'll go pick it up somewhere. I really don't need to see anyone go to jail over this."

PEGGY'S COVE, N.S. -- One of the most-photographed Nova Scotians is missing.

Shorty, a wide-eyed, five-foot-two wooden fisherman, was stolen from outside a tourist spot in Peggy's Cove, N.S., earlier this week.

Owner Peter Richardson, who announced the loss on Facebook, said Shorty arrived in August and proved to be very popular.

Richardson owns several businesses in the tourist area, including Peggy's Cove Lobsters. He bought Shorty for $1,000 to draw customers to his lobster-roll food truck.

He says the folksy statue was photographed thousands of times.

"I'd say one in five people stopped to take a picture with Shorty," said Richardson, who also owns Peggy's Cove Boat Tours.

"If they were a couple, one would put their arm around him to take a photo."

He suspects it was stolen as a prank.

"I hope one of the fraternities got him in one of their dorms. I went to university once and we did stuff like that," he said.

"We just hope that he's having fun, that he's OK, and that he's coming back. We miss him dearly."

Richardson has offered a $200 reward.

PEGGY’S COVE, N.S.—A popular wooden fisherman that was stolen from a tourist spot in Peggy’s Cove earlier this week is now back in front of his owner’s business.

Peter Richardson, who owns Peggy’s Cove Lobsters, said he got a call from four Dalhousie University students who said they had rescued the life-sized carving known as Shorty.

Richardson said he travelled to Halifax on Saturday night to collect the folksy wood carving from the four women.

He said they told him they had heard a rumour that a group of men they know had taken the five-foot-two-inch carving, so they went to the men’s house while they were away and removed it.

“They tried to carry him out themselves and they couldn’t, so they called a roommate whose boyfriend had a truck,” said Richardson. “The five of them managed to get him down the stairs and into the back of the truck.”

He said they later texted their friends to let them know they had taken custody of Shorty.

Richardson said he’s glad to have Shorty back after his adventure, which he suspects was the result of a university prank.

Meanwhile, steps have been taken to secure Shorty and there are plans to have a Mrs. Shorty carved to keep him company in front of Richardson’s lobster-roll food truck.

“Now that he’s here we’re still going to have Mrs. Shorty come up just to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn’t wander off again,” said Richardson.

Richardson, who bought Shorty last August for $1,000 to help promote his business, said the social media attention the carving’s disappearance generated hasn’t hurt with the tourist season fast approaching.

“When Shorty was here he greeted thousands of people,” he said. “People were concerned and they just wanted him to come back.”

Jeff Weiler of Niagara who was sightseeing in Peggy’s Cove on Sunday, said he and his wife had heard of Shorty’s plight.

“We drove by about two-and-a-half hours ago coming in and we saw him and said ‘No way. That’s Shorty,’” said Weiler. “We pulled by just as he was here so it was kinda cool.”

Thieves make off with popular tourist attraction from Peggy’s Cove

One of the most-photographed Nova Scotians is missing.

Shorty, a wide-eyed, five-foot-two wooden fisherman, was stolen from outside a tourist spot in Peggy’s Cove, N.S., earlier this week.

Owner Peter Richardson, who announced the loss on Facebook, said Shorty arrived in August and proved to be very popular.

Richardson owns several businesses in the tourist area, including Peggy’s Cove Lobsters. He bought Shorty for $1,000 to draw customers to his lobster-roll food truck.

He says the folksy statue was photographed thousands of times.

“I’d say one in five people stopped to take a picture with Shorty,” said Richardson, who also owns Peggy’s Cove Boat Tours.

'We decided that he wasn't being treated very nicely, so we went and saved him,' Erin O'Connor says

Shorty, the sou'wester-wearing wooden fisherman, has a whale of a tale to share after a group of Dalhousie University students rescued him from a house in Halifax.

Erin O'Connor and friends Roz Brenzel, Kennedy Whelan, Paula Munroe and Julia Farrow heard rumours the statue was at the house and made a plan to take it back for owner Peter Richardson.

"We decided that he wasn't being treated very nicely, so we went and saved him," O'Connor told CBC News in a phone interview on Saturday.

"We just put Shorty in the car and we drove away."

Shorty disappeared from Peggys Cove Boat Tours earlier in the week.

O'Connor said Shorty is in good condition.

"Shorty is safe with us and doing a lot better," O'Connor said.

The group of students posed for a picture with Shorty before giving him back to Richardson on Saturday.

"On the phone [Richardson] sounded very excited to be reunited with his friend Shorty," she said.

Peter Richardson with his fisherman statue, Shorty. (Submitted by Peter Richardson)

CBC News spoke with Richardson, the owner of Peggys Cove Boat Tours, ahead of his reunion with Shorty.

He said he got the call at 5 p.m. on Saturday that Shorty was found.

"I received a phone call from someone saying that we have Shorty. That's all they said was, 'We have Shorty.' I said, 'You have Shorty?' She said, 'Yes, we found Shorty and I have him at my apartment right now,'" Richardson said.

Richardson he had been working all day on a missing person sign for Shorty when he got the call.

He said he will increase security at his business and plans to secure Shorty to the ground to hinder future thefts.

So long as Shorty is in decent shape, Richardson said he's not planning to lay charges.

"We decided today to have a Mrs. Shorty carved so she can stand out in the same spot with her hand out looking for shorty, waiting for him to come back," Richardson said.

"I'm glad [the students] called and [they're] giving Shorty back but [they] should have done it two weeks down the road."

Richard said the motive of the theft isn't important. He said the silver lining of the incident is that it will attract attention to his business just ahead of the busy tourism season.

"We're getting him back and that's all that matters," Richardson said.

Shorty, the missing wooden fisherman-mascot from Peggy’s Cove, is back home, safe and sound.

It's all thanks to a group of Dalhousie University students, who say they “rescued” Shorty from a home on Saturday.

Peter Richardson, who is Shorty’s owner, wasn't sure if he would ever see shorty again.

The wooden sailor went missing a few days ago from Peggy's Cove, but Richardson was reunited with Shorty on Saturday evening.

After seeing Richardson's plea on CTV News for Shorty's return, and a little investigative work, these university students called Richardson Saturday afternoon with the good news.

“We think it was a prank gone wrong,” said one of the students, who didn’t give her name.

“We just wanted to ensure that Shorty could go back to his rightful owners and to Peggy’s Cove for all the tourists,” said another.

Richardson said the students told him they had heard a rumour that a group of men they know had taken the five-foot-two-inch carving, so they went to the men's house while they were away and removed it.

"They tried to carry him out themselves and they couldn't, so they called a roommate whose boyfriend had a truck," said Richardson. "The five of them managed to get him down the stairs and into the back of the truck."

He said they later texted their friends to let them know they had taken custody of Shorty.

Richardson, who bought Shorty last August for $1,000 to help promote his business -- Peggy's Cove Lobsters -- said the social media attention the carving's disappearance generated hasn't hurt with the tourist season fast approaching.

"When Shorty was here he greeted thousands of people," he said. "People were concerned and they just wanted him to come back."

Shorty sure is popular with visitors at the cove. The sailor has been on display since September, where he poses with thousands of tourists for photos.

Jeff Weiler of Niagara, Ont., who was sightseeing in Peggy's Cove on Sunday, said he and his wife had heard of Shorty's plight.

"We drove by about two-and-a-half hours ago coming in and we saw him and said 'No way. That's Shorty,"' said Weiler. "We pulled by just as he was here so it was kinda cool."

Richardson says he's working on a plan, so that his thrill-seeking sailor never leaves home again.

“I just got off the phone with the girl that carved Shorty and I was commissioning her to carve a Mrs. Shorty, so when shorty came back, he would have somebody to watch, keep an eye on him so he wouldn't wander off,” Richardson said.

Richardson says he is grateful Shorty -- and Mrs. Shorty -- will be able to greet visitors together this summer, but in the meantime, it’s a happy ending as this seafaring mystery has been solved.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Suzette Belliveau and The Canadian Press.