The story of one of the most peculiar thefts in recent memory came to a forlorn conclusion Monday morning. A 10-foot replica cigarette, stolen from a Silver Spring, Md., home late last week, was found behind Takoma Park Middle School after being hacked apart by a chainsaw. Its filter, however, was nowhere to be found.
The giant cigarette's owner, Jeannie Roule, reported it missing Thursday morning, and was shocked by the brazen, deliberately planned nature of the theft. In addition to its length, the wooden cigarette weighed 150 pounds and had been secured in the yard with cement and metal brackets, possibly ruling out the usual suspects: teenage pranksters.
“I personally want to say this was planned,” she said in an interview with the Washington Post. “You have to make sure you have enough guys. You have to make sure you have a pickup truck.”
Known locally for their love of the abstract, Roule and her husband, Trifin, have decorated their yard with an eclectic collection of modern art. The cigarette, a repurposed telephone pole with the “Marlboro” logo carefully painted around its filter, shared space with other quirky exhibits, such as a red “Mad Men”-esque cutout silhouette and a yellow upright ladder.
“It’s an extension of my husband and myself,” she told News4. “Our house is full of art, and we extend it to the yard.”
However, she acknowledges that the exhibits have drawn polarizing reactions from neighbors.
“Sometimes I think people don’t get it,” she told the Post. “You don’t have to get it. It’s just there.”
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The couple had hoped for the cigarette’s return, but they now plan to move on and rebuild, despite some criticism. On Monday, the Roules called the telephone company and requested a new 10-foot pole.
“We're just going to purchase another telephone pole and repaint it,” she told News4. “It’s not very difficult to do.”
