In the early morning hours of Dec. 31, two masked thieves stole the bronze bighorn sheep installed outside the Kuiu headquarters in Dixon, California. Kuiu posted the surveillance footage to its social media channels Wednesday and is asking anyone who might recognize the suspects to phone local police. The hunting brand is offering a $5,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of the thieves.
“We weren’t really thinking anybody was going to try to steal it,” says Kevin Wilkerson, vice-president of brand for Kuiu. “The way it was mounted was fairly secure with a full concrete base. We thought that would secure it to where no one would walk away with it, but we didn’t think anyone would take a saw to it.”
Some social media commenters concluded the theft was motivated by anger over Kuiu’s acquisition by private equity in December, but officials say the statue was targeted for scrap. Bronze fetches between $2 and $3 per pound in California, and theft of bronze artwork appears to be on the rise.
“We have zero reason to believe this has anything to do with the recent acquisition, nor do authorities,” says Wilkerson. “The belief is that is was stolen to melt down and sell for its metal property value.”
Multiple angles of surveillance video show two men in dark clothes with their faces covered. They sever the bronze statue from its base by cutting it loose at its feet with a portable battery-powered band saw. Next, they tip over the ram then drag it to their sedan, which appears to be a Chrysler 300.
“The funniest part is definitely them trying to put it in the backseat,” Wilkerson says. “They had to be very dedicated. They left and came back. It was not a short process.”
Fifteen minutes later the two return on foot with a luggage cart. They load the bronze ram on the cart and wheel it away. Officials suspect the ram was moved to a more discreet location where it was cut into pieces that would fit in the car.
The Dixon Police Department has handled the case locally since Dec. 31. KUIU decided to post the footage Wednesday, along with an offer of the reward, to extend reach for new leads in the case.
“It is kind of crazy,” Wilkerson says. “We posted just trying to get help finding the culprits and within 10 minutes, we had 150 comments. That’s a lot of engagement for a stolen bronze ram.”
The statute, known as “Rocky,” is the second custom bronze ram Kuiu has commissioned from wildlife sculptor Joshua Tobey. The Dixon sheep was installed in June 2024. The first statue of the same animal is located at the Dallas Kuiu store, where it was installed in fall 2023. Tobey sculpted the Dallas ram with its nose turned upward; the Dixon statue’s head is turned.
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“I think deep down all of us hope we find Rocky,” Wilkerson says. “If we don’t, we’ll probably look at figuring out a good option to put something else in place.”
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