No enlightenment on Buddha statue theft

TIVERTON, R.I. (WPRI) - Tiverton Police are searching for someone -- who, you might say, now has questionable karma. A thief stole a two foot concrete statue of Buddha sometime Sunday night from outside the Coastal Roasters Coffee Shop that's been sitting outside by the water for eight years.

Tuesday, a planter remained on the patio, its former occupant absent -- a small crab figurine standing in for it. Now the owner hopes whoever took the symbol of enlightenment and a higher plane of consciousness has a change of heart and comes forward.

"I just couldn't believe that somebody would do that," said owner Lisa Machado. "It's been out here for years and people enjoy it."

A customer noticed the missing Buddha Monday morning. Before, people often took pictures, enjoying the statue among chairs on the patio.

The statue garnered attention from those who revere the spiritual teacher it represented and his religion. "People would come and make offerings to it," said Machado. "They would leave change, artists would come here and do paintings."

Machado had placed the two-foot statue, cast in concrete, along the waterfront when she bought the coffee shop back around 2002. She hopes whoever took it realizes the deeper consequences.

"It is bad karma. And I do believe they will pay for it in the end. It won't be worth it, I'm sure," said Machado.

Police did take a report for the missing statue, but say they can't do the normal checks of scrapyards. The trouble: the statue itself is not made of precious metals.

Investigators continue to search for wisdom, answers -- and enlightenment -- as to who the thief is, as well as where the Buddha lies.