It's a ribbeting tale: Thieves lift frog off Point Place pad

Enviro-Tech, a frog statue that was part of Toledo s It s Reigning Frogs public art campaign four years ago, is missing from its base on North Summit Street.

Jeff Wojcik nearly croaked yesterday after he arrived for work at his Point Place business.

Thieves had taken Enviro-Tech, one of two colorfully painted frog statues Mr. Wojcik acquired from Toledo's "It's Reigning Frogs" public art campaign four years ago.

He noticed the sitting frog statue missing from the concrete base it was bolted to in front of Toledo Torch, 5017 North Summit St., about 8 a.m. He last saw the approximately 60-pound fiber-glass amphibian when he closed about 5:30 p.m. Friday.

Mr. Wojcik bought Enviro-Tech for $1,500 when it and other frog statues were auctioned at the end of the 2001 arts campaign. The thieves didn't take another frog statue, Tad C. Pole, that sits nearby in front of Mr. Wojcik's torch-and-regulator repair shop.

Mr. Wojcik said he was surprised the statue was stolen, "especially since it's been here so long. No one bothered it."

Mr. Wojcik said he was going to take the other statue home last night.

The art department of Clay High School designed Enviro-Tech.