The Great Key Heist
I love to see Frederick making the Washington Post for something like this …
The 30 keys scattered throughout downtown Frederick don’t open anything, but they have proved an irresistible target to thieves.
Police arrested four men yesterday and recovered a six-foot fiberglass key, decorated like an American flag by artist Jonathan West, that had been taken from a downtown sidewalk early yesterday. Witnesses said the thieves smiled and waved as they removed it.
It was the second key to be stolen — there was also a third, failed attempt — since the 30 keys by local artists were unveiled in August throughout Frederick’s historic downtown. Many of the keys have been vandalized with spray paint, and one was broken into pieces during a weekend festival.
And the comments about the story are great to, like this little gem …
Fredneck Retirement Plan:
1. Steal giant key
2. Drive around all night looking for giant lock
3. Profit
Alright that one actually made me chuckle.
~Guy~
My mom and my little brother and sister and I visited all the keys on Friday except the ones that weren’t there (Music is the Key to Happiness and Communi-Key). We thought the Quilted Key was missing too but it turned out to be near 7th street not 6th street.
I feel lucky that we got to see the Francis Scott’s Key before it was stolen. The very first key was missing so we went inside the Arts Council to ask about it. The Shabrow Shoppers Key was there because it was being fixed, but the man in the office let us see it. He also helped us by telling us which keys were missing and informing us that we could find the answers to some scavenger hunt questions on the web but definitely not all of them.
We have one question we can’t answer. We thought we had it right but the man at the Arts Council said it was wrong. The question was about the baseballs on the Baseball Key. How many baseballs are on the top (handle)? I said five. I even got a boost so I could look on top. Does anyone know the correct answer?
I really appreciate the hard work the artists did on the keys and the artwork. My favorite key is the Key of Keys. We looked at it for a long time. The longer we looked at the more things we noticed, like that some of the keys were uncut, some were old, and there was a spot where it looked like a key was missing but was really there in a way. If I had the money, I would buy the Key of Keys at the auction.
I hope the people who are abusing the Keys are put in jail for at least a year.
I don’t see what’s so funny about that Retirement plan? Sounds like a good plan to me.
Will,
I think the people stealing the Keys should be put in jail for more than a year. It may prevent others from vandalizing them if they know they could go to jail. Heck, if you only get a year for stealing one, it’s only a slap on the proverbial wrist to tag one.
The keys were a stupid idea for an art project, but Frederick is getting in the news a lot for all the bad things happening to them.