Florida the rules are different here Chapter LXXIV

Sarasota's clown statues are back in the news.

SARASOTA - The Coast Guard has determined that two crewmen from its St. Petersburg sector stole one of downtown Sarasota's clown statues.

The Coast Guard has paid $3,500 for a replacement clown to TideWell Hospice and Palliative Care, which organized the exhibit as a fundraiser.

The crewmen nabbed the 6-foot statue from Gulf Stream Avenue and Main Street and took it aboard the cutter Vise, which docked overnight in Sarasota about three weeks ago.

One of them apparently told investigators he anonymously tipped off the Sarasota Police Department that the sculpture had been left somewhere downtown.

Police have had no luck locating the clown, "Ra Ra Shish Boom Ba," spokesman Jay Frank said.

The artist who created "Ra Ra" will make a replica to be auctioned in April.

"I'm going to try to match it," said Wende Wilkerson, who spent about 50 hours painting the original statue. "I almost took it as a compliment. It means someone liked it enough to steal it. Either that or it's going to be target practice."

Here is an old post of mine on the statues. TFM is well aware that Sarasota was the winter home to Ringling Brothers circus for years.

Much ado about clown statues. Is this a metaphor for life in Florida? Don't you just love this state?

Linked to- Bright & Early, Bullwinkle Blog, Samantha Burns,