A treasured pigeon statue has gone missing in the capital, with Wellingtonians hoping some guilty consciences will mean it flies back to its roost.
The bronze pigeon is one of 10 in the city and was previously in a planter box on Cuba St, near the famed Bucket Fountain. It depicted a life-size pigeon nibbling on a slice of pizza, but it appears the pigeon has been pinched, leaving only the pizza behind.
About a month after its disappearance, the bird still hasn't returned to its perch.
Another pigeon statue went missing last year but was returned not long after.
Another missing pigeon — Precious, which honours Wētā Workshop — is also missing, but is currently presumed to be safe while its surroundings are under renovation.
Other pigeons honour peanut butter makers Fix and Fogg, beermakers Garage Project and delivery company DeliverEasy, among others.
Commissioned by the regional development agency WellingtonNZ, two years ago, the pigeons were put in place to honour local business success stories — such as Scopa Pizzeria, which was co-founded by brothers Lorenzo and Leonardo Bresolin.
Unique to individual businesses, the pigeons were placed in a seminal spot for each.
For Scopa, that was a conversation between Lorenzo Bresolin and his father at The Matterhorn bar and restaurant — which had since closed in 2017.
The younger Bresolin said it was an "unforgettable night" that likely changed his life forever. His father, Remiro, who once owned Il Casino, has since died.
"I'd told him I was going to move to New York City and I had big ideas, and he was like 'yeah, New York sounds great, but why don't you stay here and we can, you know, do something together'."
The conversation convinced Lorenzo to stay in Wellington.
Eighteen years later, Scopa Pizzeria is still serving customers on the corner of Cuba and Ghuznee streets, and the brothers have also opened a pasta place — 1154 Pastaria — right across the road.
Bresolin was fond of the statue. While it was referred to simply as "Pepperoni" by WellingtonNZ, he had given it a full name: Giuseppe Pepperoni the Pidgey-Widgey.
Just months ago he had enjoyed bringing his almost two-year-old son Luca to play by the statue. He joked the culprit could be "an old disgruntled postal worker" — a reference to the times of pigeon post.
"It's really sad because [it was] a cool memento."
He had high hopes Wellington's good nature would come through and Pepperoni would be returned. But, he also had a message for the person or persons who had taken it.
"If you are seeing this, we will find you and you will never be allowed pizza ever again," he joked.
"Or if you return it I'll give you a free one."
The idea for the pigeon statues, originating from creative agency EightyOne, came from a WellingtonNZ brief to promote the city as a business destination.
Local artist Jonathan Campbell rendered the birds.
EightyOne executive director Chris Bleackley said public art was a way to tell the story that was more "quirky" — like the city itself.
"We could have done a TV commercial or an online ad, or a series of posters, but we wanted something more enduring and something that was a bit more Wellington."
He believed the statue would cost "a few grand" to replace, but it was an easy job as it would be a matter of simply recasting the bronze bird from its original mould.
"Whilst they seem insignificant, I think they're a celebration, a celebration of Wellingtonians, a celebration of Wellington businesses," Bleackley said.
"It's a pretty unusual place full of some amazing and unusual people and I think that those people are worth celebrating."
WellingtonNZ's destination, marking and communications manager Todd Barberel said his focus was on getting Pepperoni — "Roni" as he called it — back, instead of replacing it.
"The second one is never as good as the first," he said.
"If 'Roni is out there, [we] just really appeal for somebody to do the right thing. Just give us a call at WellingtonNZ, no questions asked, we just really want 'Roni' back."
Any leads on Pepperoni's whereabouts can be shared by calling 04 916 1205 or emailing WellingtonNZ at Media@WellingtonNZ.com.
Anyone in possession of Pepperoni was also welcome to drop it off or post it back to WellingtonNZ at the address Level 1, 175 Victoria St.
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