A large, Japanese ceramic statue donated to MSU by the University of the Ryukyus in Japan has been stolen from the entrance of the Kathleen D. and Milton E. Muelder Japanese Garden, police officials said.
The statue, a Shi Shi, or Japanese lion-dog hybrid, is part of a pair of 40-pound statues that were located outside the Japanese Garden, which is part of the Clarence E. Lewis Landscape Arboretum on Service Road.
"I'm devastated at the thought," said Milton E. Muelder, the garden's namesake.
The statue was reportedly stolen sometime between midnight Dec. 13 and 9:30 a.m. Jan. 14, MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor said.
The statue is valued at $3,000 and was donated to the horticulture department in 2002, she said.
The missing statue's mouth is open, and the remaining statue's mouth is closed.
The case is still under investigation, and there are no suspects.
Muelder, 96, a retired university employee, helped develop a partnership and relationship with the University of Ryukyus in 1951.
In 2001, during a celebration of the 50-year relationship in Okinawa, Japan, Muelder said he showed pictures of the garden to University of Ryukyus President Moshin Morita, to which the president suggested a couple of Shi Shi would look beautiful at the entrance.
The statues were made by a Japanese artist, and Morita then came to MSU to present them, Muelder said.
"It was a fantastic and expensive gift," he said. "It's a symbol of the close relationship of the two universities. This act simply throws a shadow on that and is an enormous embarrassment."
The absence of the statue was first noticed by Robert Schutzki, an associate professor with the Department of Horticulture and director of development for the arboretum.
There were no tracks around the scene because snow had fallen before he visited the garden, Schutzki said.
"We were violated, and it's not a pleasant thing," he said of the missing statue. "It's not like you can go the store and buy a new one."
There were no signs of scraping or damage to the pillar where the missing statue stood, Schutzki said.
The statue was attached to a pillar with contractor's epoxy glue, which has been effective when the department had used it in the past, Schutzki said.
"Anything that is taken like that, you're not happy when it's gone," he said. "But that it was a special gift. It's embarrassing for us to tell the donor that it's missing."
Morita, who resides in Okinawa, has not yet been notified of the theft, Schutzki said.
He added he would like it if the thief just put the statue back.
Schutzki speculated if the statute wasn't returned, the University of Ryukyus would do something in Muelder's benefit - even if it meant MSU had to buy a replacement statue.
"If who took these understood the cultural significance and the emotional attachment of these statues, perhaps they'd return them," Muelder said.
Anyone with information is asked to call MSU police at (517) 355-2222.
