An Olympia gallery was burglarized either late Friday night or early Saturday morning by thieves who entered through a skylight. The thieves broke the skylight, rappelled into the gallery, and stole two large pieces of art.
Jo Gallaugher, the owner of the gallery, had a hard time believing just how it happened.
“In a way its flattering that burglars would go to so much trouble,” Gallaugher said.
The works were very popular among men in their 20s, said Jo Gallaugher, the owner of Matter Gallery. One was called “Tribute to the Concussed Skier” by Judd Turner and priced at $800. The other was called "Horizons II" by Jerry Williamson and priced at $600. There are far more expensive pieces in the gallery, Gallaugher said.
The thieves took advantage of darkness caused when Gallaugher turned off the gallery’s main breaker to keep melting snow from dripping down through the ceiling and onto the junction box.
"[It was] not until the police were here and actually investigated and found the footprints on the wall and the heat duct that I really believed that's what actually happened," Gallaugher said.
The thieves also attempted to steal a third piece, Gallaugher said, a coat rack fashioned to look like the space needle.
“They carried it to the back door but likely couldn't make the corner to get it out,” Gallaugher wrote in an email to Q13 FOX News.
"To see a piece that you've stolen, I can't imagine that you would feel anything positive from it every time you saw it," Gallaugher said. "We have layaway. There are easier ways to get a piece of art that you can't afford."
