When Chantille Graham arrived to work at the Shorelunch Cafe last week, she noticed a large piece of her family was missing.
A mural of her stepdad fishing that hung on the south side of the building had vanished, leaving her wondering why anyone would steal such an item.
“It never even dawned on me that someone would steal it,” Graham said. “I always think that people are honest. Maybe I’m just ignorant, but I never thought someone would steal from me.”
The mural, painted on the building’s siding by Bruce Trask, was displayed outside the Shorelunch Cafe for years — her family has owned the restaurant since 1998. Her mother and stepfather own the restaurant, and Graham is in the process of taking over ownership.
“The mural meant a lot to me,” she said. “I’m hoping they bring it back — no questions asked. At this point, I would just be grateful to have it back.”
The mural was stolen during last week’s siding project. As the building aged, the siding was “in desperate need of repair,” Graham said. Last week, she was able to cut the mural down while the new siding was put in, and she planned to place the mural back up. The mural was stolen overnight as it sat outside the building.
People saw Graham taking the mural down and would stop by to say that they hope it’s still going back up, she said. That was the plan. It was somewhat of an icon in the community, she added.
When it was hung, the mural went around the corner of the building and had two parts. The two pieces were a continuous painting of her stepfather, Mark Carrier, fishing.
“He’s the one who taught me how to fish,” Graham said. “And he only has one leg and a really bad back and can’t get out much anymore.”
In the mural, he was catching a northern pike. Trask painted hidden things in the mural — if you look closely there is a ghost painted on the boat’s motor, Graham said.
The second part of the mural with the northern pike out of the water was still there when Graham noticed the other piece missing. She added the mural that was stolen is roughly 4 feet by 4 feet and is heavy, and she can’t imagine how someone would have hauled it away.
“It makes me sad to think that someone would steal it — it isn’t theirs to take,” she said.
She added that she has no idea how much money the mural was worth.
“To me, it’s priceless, because it can’t be replaced,” she said.
Graham doesn’t have a picture of the mural, so she can’t get it painted again, she said.
“It wouldn’t ever be the same,” she said.
In her efforts to find the mural and her pleas to have it back, Graham said she wonders if someone thought it was garbage as it was leaning against the building.
Graham said she hopes it was not stolen by an out-of-town visitor.
“If someone in town would steal it, people would talk and we’d probably find it,” Graham said. “But if it was someone from out of town, the odds of me getting it back are slim to none.”
Graham added she hopes that if someone hears about it, they could help her find it. She posted information on Facebook about the theft, and is spreading the word. Although she is upset and angry, she still has hope that it may be returned someday, she said.
The plan was to incorporate the mural into the remodeled building as Graham purchases the business from her family.
Until now, the mural had represented the “kindness of people’s hearts,” Graham explained. Years ago, one of the restaurant’s customers helped raise money throughout the community for the mural. Trask also painted it “out of the kindness of his heart,” she said.
“If it’s returned to me, there will be no questions asked,” Graham said. “I’d be so grateful if someone would just bring it back.”
