Victim has hunch about sign theft mystery

Dunedin artist and curator Bruce Mahalski and his dog Chilli would like the return of their sign for The Dunedin Museum of Natural Mystery which was stolen on Saturday night.

Mr Mahalski said it would have taken quite a bit of trouble to smash the posts and make off with the sign, which was well concreted in and would likely have needed two people to steal it.

It was the first time the 4-year-old sign had been stolen from the Royal Tce attraction, and he was keen to get it back as it had cost quite a lot.

The sign depicted a wahine manu (bird woman) holding an egg and was used to advertise his small private museum which displays skulls, skeletons, strange social ephemera and art.

He suspected that some student flat probably had it, as there were a lot of parties in the area last night.

Student behaviour had been an ongoing problem in the area for some time, he said.

There was a lot of rubbish to pick up at weekends and people would urinate and even defecate on his property.

"It just seems like student behaviour every year gets a little bit worse," he said.