170 of your garden gnomes are stolen. Your neighbors are determined to give you some.
On the night between Saturday and Sunday, 170 of the 300 garden gnomes belonging to Annie-Claude Briche, a resident of Ferrière-la-Petite (France), were stolen. This prompted her neighbors to appeal to the solidarity of the people of Ferrière.
When Annie-Claude Briche went to get bread on Sunday morning, she was in for a nasty surprise. On the night between Saturday and Sunday, 170 of her 300 garden gnomes had been stolen. "The neighbors had seen a car come by twice before midnight," she reported.
The Ferriéroise began her collection about 30 years ago with her now-deceased husband Patrick. "They had sentimental value ... We started with one, then two, then three... And it never stopped." Annie-Claude Briche's gnomes were well known in Ferrière-la-Petite. "If I didn't take them out in time, I'd get into arguments! There was one carrying a lantern, another with a large mushroom, another working ...".
Sometimes found at flea markets or fairs, sometimes given by relatives, these gnomes were cared for and looked after by their owners every year. They were repainted before being brought out in summer, after having been kept safe throughout the winter. "They were real porcelain ones. If you leave them outside in the cold, they break. I was supposed to bring them in last week, but the weather was too bad. Now a part of me is gone.... I hope they don't hurt them, that they don't break them... I'm really disgusted." In the meantime, she has filed a report with the gendarmerie and taken the other 130 figures home with her.
The Spirit of Solidarity
She is not the only one. The neighbors on Rue Gabriel-Péri are inevitably being addressed as well. "What will they do with them?", one of them asks. "It touches me because I have always known them," says Marie Hautier. She is the daughter of "mémé Annie's" neighbors and has decided to show solidarity "to replenish her collection".
Via Facebook, she called on the residents of Ferriérois to bring her garden gnomes. "Annie is well known here. It is a small village where everyone helps each other. We are all disappointed in her." An initiative that some have already responded to. "When you see how much she cared for her gnomes, it is important for us to do this." A wave of solidarity that is bound to touch Annie-Claude Briche: "Fortunately, I have good neighbors."
The Return of the Front for the Liberation of Garden Gnomes?
As early as 1997, similar thefts on a large scale had been recorded by law enforcement in the region. At that time, numerous garden gnome owners went to the police station in Béthune and tried to identify their items.
About 180 gnomes had been stolen by young students who belonged to the Front for the Liberation of Garden Gnomes. Three of them were arrested in a car containing two figures with red hats. They quickly confessed and stated that they had stolen the garden gnomes in several towns in the region.
"These are more pranks than serious crimes," said an investigator questioned at the time, explaining that the acts were "burglary thefts that constitute a criminal offense". The four students were eventually sentenced on October 31, 1994, before the criminal court in Béthune.