Garden Gnomes and Stone Leprechauns: Silent Victims of Yard Kidnap Crimes

Irish Leprechaun Thefts Risk “Misfortune”, “Bad Luck” for “Rest of their Lives”, German Garden Gnomes Lack “Forklore” Protection

Garden Gnomes and Leprechauns: Can you spot the difference?

Missing since November 3rd, a 300-400 pound concrete leprechaun named Simon kidnapped from his Yuma, Arizona, Foothills area home. The leprechaun, a “beloved” member of the Charles E. Ellsworth family for the past 15-years, was snatched from where he resided next to the driveway gate post.

Simon is described as 4 ft tall, in a sitting position, a white beard, gray flowing pointed cap, bright red jacket, blue trousers, and red boots.

In May of 2006, a Milford, Massachusetts family suffered the same tragedy when their 300-pd gnome named Shamus disappeared from their front yard. The gnome was gift to Ed Larkin from his wife after triple bypass surgery a year earlier. The Larkins found “marks” in the yard from where the gnome had been “dragged away”.

Ellsworth claims Simon is “invaluable” and “irreplaceable”, a gift from a dear departed relative from North Carolina, and that the “low-life thieves” who stole the leprechaun may risk the wrath of Irish folklore:

“Anyone who kidnaps or steals a leprechaun will have nothing but misfortune and bad luck the rest of their lives.”

Ellworth also stated that even if someone were to repaint the leprechaun, Simon would be easy to identify as he’s the “only one out West”.

Ellsworth asks that anyone who has info on Simon to contact the local Yuma Sheriff’s Department. We wondered whether the missing Simon, based on his owner’s description, was actually a gnome and not a leprechaun? According to his owner, Simon had a gray flowing pointed cap while leprechauns wear hats.

Steal a Leprechaun, Risk Bad Luck, Kidnap a Gnome, Risk Getting Labeled a Gnome Liberator

While leprechauns are purportedly protected by Irish forklore, gnomes seem to lack the same “protection”. Even so, garden gnomes have been kidnapped then returned after being taken around the world, while others were “liberated” and given “sanctuary”.

Murphy, the “globetrotting” leprechaun, or gnome?

In 2006, the U.K’s Metro published an account of Kidnapped gnome’s globe-trotting adventure. The story was about a gnome, or leprechaun named Murphy-the paper called him both-who “visited” 12 countries with his mysterious “abductor” after being kidnapped from his Glouchester home. Murphy’s abductor returned Murphy seven months later with a photo album containing 48 images of Murphy at various locals across the globe and a letter:

“The letter signed by Murphy blamed ‘itchy feet’ for his sudden disappearance, saying: ‘There’s more to life than watching daily commuter traffic and allowing passing cats to urinate on you.’”

The article referred to Murphy as both a leprechaun and a gnome and yet, there is a difference between the two. While leprechauns are distinctly Irish, garden gnomes originated from German fairytales where gnomes were often portrayed as “tiny miners” who brought good luck to those placed them in their garden or homes. Garden gnomes also seem to be more vastly popular than leprechauns as garden ornaments, as a simple search on the web unearthed numerous garden gnome images and gnomes for sale, while there were few garden leprechauns.

There are also reports of garden gnome “liberation” antics in Europe such as France’s Garden Gnome Liberation Front and, Italy’s Malag, Movimento Autonomo per la Liberazione delle Anime da Giardino whose goal is “the establishment of a European Gnome Sanctuary in Barga, Italy”.

And then there was the case of the 75 missing garden gnomes in Springfield, Oregon, who suddenly appeared one morning in a family’s front yard. In this case, the unsuspected was a victim of a prank carried out by those who stole the gnomes.

By LBG

Source: Yuma Sun Letter
Image – Plastic Leprechaun
Image – Garden Gnome