The sculpture was a replica of the figurehead of the HMS Unicorn, pictured here, one of the oldest still-floating ships in the world. Photo: Supplied
A unicorn sculpture has been stolen from an iconic Rocks Road house.
Caleb Harcus owns the colloquially known 'Red House' and was disappointed to see the sculpture missing.
"They had gone to a grand old effort to get it down," he said.
"They would have had to get a good look at it and figure out how it was bolted and use the appropriate tools to get it down."
The sculpture was held high above the ground by three poles and bolted to a concrete pad.
The unicorn was a replica of the figurehead on the HMS Unicorn - one of the oldest still-floating ships in the world, launched in 1824 and now docked in Dundee, Scotland as a museum. The sculpture ended up costing Harcus $17,000.
"I spent way too much getting the ship's figurehead carved," he said.
"[The carver] did such a beautiful job of it."
The property can be seen in September 2022, after it was red-stickered, with the unicorn figurehead still overlooking the house in the top right. Photo: LDR / Max Frethey
Except for its wooden horn, the figurehead was polystyrene and was painstakingly replicated in Auckland with Scotland's royal banner of arms even being substituted for Nelson's coat of arms, before it was coated in 12 layers of paint.
Harcus said he was concerned the sculpture was damaged when it was removed but would love to see it returned anyway.
He did not believe it would have been taken if the Red House had been occupied.
The house was empty, having been red-stickered after the August 2022 weather event brought a mudslide down and took the house off its piles.
Harcus said he was "flattered" by an outpouring of public support after people saw the damaged house but said he was doing fine.
"I wasn't affected at all," he said.
"It was my tenant Alana who got moved out at the last minute, and all her gear is going mouldy in there."
But the beloved house's future was uncertain.
Harcus said the Earthquake Commission needed to figure out what they wanted to do with all the mud before the house can be assessed, but there was a chance excavation could bring more of the hillside down.
"I'm not the slightest bit worried about it all," he said.
"There were so many people who were affected, I wasn't affected in the slightest. For me, it was just a rental property."
The Red House is one of 19 Nelson homes still red-stickered. A further 84 homes were yellow-stickered.
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air