The gnomes came home! Stolen garden ornaments returned, freshly painted in Kelowna, BC

A Kelowna, B.C. man has a mystery on his hands.

Who took his weathered garden gnomes? And then returned them, freshly painted?

Kelly Blair has a clue, but just a scant one: A paper cutout of a gnome, with ‘The Gnome Restoration Society’ written in pen on the back.

Global's Victoria Femia has the story.

#GlobalNews #gnomes #kelowna

[whathandleUtalkabt]

That One Last Gnome who didnt get a fresh make over is suffering depression . Please get him painted up.

[lightgiver]

I have to admit, I used to love the videos where someone took a lawn ornament and brought it with them on adventures, taking photos from all their destinations, and then returning said lawn ornament.

[kaywatson]

Reminds me of the lawn frog that disappeared from Reno, Nevada. The owner was very unhappy until he got a letter with pictures in Europe from him front lawn frog. Four months and lots of post cards letters and such frog came home in a limo.

[debramills]

One of the nicest acts of kindness .wish more people were like this

[probablynot]

Thirty years ago, I volunteered an extraordinary number of hours with our Cub Scout Pack as the Advancement Chair. On our annual awards & den advancement dinner, I was awarded a garden gnome, probably because I had spend quite a bit of time in my garden. It was a rather hideous looking thing; however, I accepted with the spirit in which it was given. The next year, I received another similarly hideous gnome. They were each placed in my back yard (I certainly wasn’t going to display them in my front yard), near some shrubs, with the hope that they would eventually discolor, flake, and fall into decrepit condition. Year after year, I’d check on them, and they continued to look just as colorful as the day they were presented to me. Drat! Twenty-four years passed, and we were moving 1, 000 miles away, due to a job transfer. I did not want the gnomes to travel with us, so what could I do?

There was a household, about 7 blocks from our house, which had a collection of gnomes in their front yard. I thought, perhaps my two gnomes could use some company? I gave them a good wash (again, they continued to look amazingly brand new - probably because they’d always been in a shady, dry area), and snuck over to the house in the dead of night. I left the gnomes on their front doormat, facing the door, with an ‘anonymous’ note that explained that their owner was leaving town for good, and this was their opportunity to escape their confines and join the happy gnomes that dwelled on this property. Would they be able to make room for a couple of runaways? A month after we moved, I told our adult son, who continued to live in that town, what I’d done, and could he drive by that property to see if the gnomes were on display in their front yard? Yes! Success! Six years have now passed, and the gnomes continue to happily dwell with their ‘brethren’.

[JEdwarrd]

Well the homeowner is a good sport, and is clearly into the "mischief" that gnomes illicit.
Good on the Gnome Restoration Society ;)

[isabellavalencia]

The newly painted gnomes are so vibrant and besutiful!!!!

[cherylbenton]

It's a good story with a happy ending, though I must admit, I really like the worn looking ones better. There's a shabby authenticity to them that I just love.

[elizabethheyenga]

That's great but leave a "ransom" note in case someone loses gnomes with personal meaning and suffer upset untii their return.

[lindacarter]

It's uplifting to know that there are still good people out there. 💝

[LuvMyCardiKids]

Yeah, what if you didn’t want your gnomes repainted or restored? This reminds me of when my dad offered to refinish some chairs I had that had belonged to my grandmother. I had really fond memories of those chairs from all the time I spent at my grandmothers house and I didn’t want them changed. I wanted them to remain just as I remembered them. But my dad wouldn’t know that since I can’t remember one single time of him ever going to my grandmothers house. Anyway one day I come home and the chairs are gone. My husband let my dad take them. He refinished them and they now look nothing like the chairs that were in my grandmothers house. My dad and my husband thought they did me a favor. My view is that they destroyed something I held dear. These people have zero right to “restore” anything. They are stealing and vandalizing other peoples property.

[momsterzz]

You can’t just steal somebody’s gnomes, though

[HuckThis]

To people who have them. Move them slightly around every day! Freak out the mail man! 😂

[jaynorris]

Finally a good happy news story.
Thank you!!!

[tangoangel]

Ask! Don’t just take someone’s belongings. NOT cool at all.

[andynieuwenhuis]

This reminds me of a Man in Waterloo, Ontario who had a front/side yard, full of different lawn ornaments. Unfortunately some of His Better/popular ornaments got stolen(never returned), so He eventually took all the ornaments and locked them in His garage. His lawn/side yard was on CKCO TV a few times about the different ornaments.

[pattyaiken]

Sadly, if they had any monetary value, it was lost by repainting them. I personally would be upset if someone did that to my Gnomes, what gives them the right?

[maddydog]

⁠It doesn’t matter if this one particular guy liked the gesture- it’s nice for him that he did. But the precedent in our society is that you don’t take things that don’t belong to you. It shows entitlement that someone would think it’s ok to take something that doesn’t belong to them and alter it how they envision without regard to the owner’s desires. Putting this as a feel good story seems to downplay this and makes it seem like it’s ok to do this…kinda like everyone can just do what they see fit with no regard for social standards or others feelings.

[flashflame]

What a FANTASTIC gesture to get his gnomes back to their former selves!!! I've been painting gnomes for years now but they are usually my own.

[cynthiajohnston]

In our small midwestern ( US ) town, at night someone will secretly put a huge flock of pink plastic lawn flamingos IN a person's yard - imagine waking up to that ! After a time, usually the flamingos will leave as eerily as they appeared . Actually, it ties into a local fundraiser so the prank is well tolerated . 🦩🦩🦩x 10 or more !! 💗