Cheshire Chicken Stolen!
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The more than 8-foot-tall white rooster spent some 40 years at the former Country Charm Restaurant before being recently purchased by the family of its former owner, Harvey Daniels. The late selectmen and town constable bought the plastic bird in the late 1960s for his Chicken Stop diner, which he sold in 1971.
The freshly painted bird had made its debut at a family birthday party at Rolling Acres Farm on Saturday, firmly bolted into pavement at the end of the farm's long driveway.
"My heart just broke when I drove in this morning and the chicken was gone," said Elaine Daniels.
The foul deed occurred between the hours of 1 and 8 a.m. There are several rental properties near where the chicken stood by the farm's large barn and anyone driving in would have had to pass the farmhouse. But no one heard anything, said Daniels.
Police Officer Eric Bushika said he had checked along back roads and even the chicken's former home on Route 8 this morning without success. (The restaurant property has been foreclosed on and is scheduled to be auctioned today.)
"Hopefully, it's just a prank and it will show up," said Bushika. The chicken's disappeared a couple times before, but always turned up — usually at a high school as part of a senior prank.The thieves aren't likely to make a quick buck off the chicken, according to David Webb, a collector and seller of roadside memorabilia in the state of Washington.
"These things are desirable but most people have no way of displaying them so the value is always what someone is willing to let theirs go for," he wrote in an e-mail. "I guess I would say that they are worth $1,000 more or less."
Both the town and state police are on the lookout for the fiberglass chicken, which is white with black eyes, red comb and tail and yellow feet.
Anyone who has seen the chicken or has information regarding its disappearance is asked to call 413-446-3920.
Daniels said she hoped it was just a prank and that the chicken hasn't been damaged. "It's been through a lot," she said. "We just want to get it back."
First person to contact iBerkshires at info@iberkshires.com with information leading to the recovery of the Cheshire Chicken gets four tickets to the Berkshire Dukes' playoff game on Saturday at Wahconah Park with fireworks to follow.
