Quick Take
An interpretive plaque lost in the Santa Cruz Wharf's Dec. 23 partial collapse has been recovered thanks to community assistance in identifying suspects spotted transporting the plaque down East Cliff Drive. Local officials offered few details about who stole the plaque or how it was recovered.
A plaque featuring interpretive information about sea lions, which went missing after a section of the Santa Cruz Wharf collapsed, has been returned after community members helped to identify the two individuals that took it, according to a social media post from the wharf.
The Santa Cruz Police Department published a photo Jan. 7 of two people pushing the large National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) plaque down East Cliff Drive near Seabright State Beach. The photo had come into the wharf through an email tip line set up by the city for community members to report debris from the Dec. 23 wharf collapse.
On Jan. 10, the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf posted on Facebook that the plaque had been returned. “We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the community for your assistance in identifying individuals who could provide insight into the whereabouts of the missing NOAA plaque,” the Santa Cruz Wharf said in its post.
Erika Smart, public information officer for the City of Santa Cruz, offered few details about who stole the plaque or how it was recovered. She said the theft is part of a federal investigation because the plaque is valued at more than $10,000 and helps to serve the public. She did not respond to multiple requests for additional comment Wednesday, including on what federal agency is investigating the plaque’s disappearance.
The SCPD also didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment on the investigation into the plaque’s theft and its recovery.
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.