The mystery surrounding a pole which appeared cemented into a Tauranga teacher's drive has finally been solved.
Sophie Hucker arrived home last Tuesday evening and saw a wrapped pole standing in her Tauranga drive. She first believed it was a delivery for her neighbours, but when she got out of the car she found it was cemented in.
A desperate search for answers as to how the pole came to be there ensued, however time and again she came up empty handed, until now.
Hucker this afternoon told 1News the pole was installed by tradesmen by mistake at her property and is now gone. It was meant to be the starting point for a gate.
"What I thought had happened, with it being a tradie 'oopsie', but good to get it confirmed," she said.
She said the company which installed the pole, who she doesn't want to name, saw her story online and realised it was their mistake yesterday.
"They laughed about it and were baffled as to how they managed to get it wrong," Hucker said.
The company sent workers to her house and the pole was gone by yesterday afternoon. However, to make up for it they did gift the now poleless teacher a nice bottle of bubbly.
"It's a bit weird now the pole has gone," she mused.
But what has happened to the now famous pole which made headlines as far away as Australia?
"The company has taken it back and it's in their possession," Hucker said. The teacher still "can't comprehend" how the mix-up managed to capture so many peoples attention.
"I think I will have to make a social media post to let everyone know how it turned out," she said.
Over the last week many people weighed in with theories as to why the pole ended up in her driveway with no one spotting it being installed.
A prank by one of her students was quickly ruled out.
"Teenagers these days, I don't know if they would go to much effort, like there have been pranks in the past and they usually do things in your classroom or whatever," Hucker said at the time.
Even Tauranga City Council got involved in the hunt for answers. Despite reviewing CCTV footage and checking building consents it was also in the dark.
"We're hoping, like many others, that the post installer will come forward to sort it out. If not, we'll be calling Ms Hucker next week to see how our team can help with removal," acting general manager of community services Nelita Byrne said last week.
Luckily for them that won't be necessary with the pole now firmly in Hucker's rear-view mirror.
Additional reporting by James Ball
SHARE ME