Stolen purple penguin statue returned to hotel museum

OKLAHOMA CITY – A large purple penguin statue that was swiped from a hotel in Oklahoma City apparently managed to waddle back home after police released surveillance camera images of a man with the $3,000 piece of art tucked under his arm.

Oklahoma City police on Friday announced that the statue, which disappeared Sunday night from the 21c Museum Hotel, had been “returned home.”

No arrests have been announced.

Hotel staff speculated that it was stolen by someone visiting a guest . Surveillance images show a man carrying the artwork by its head. The penguin is about two-thirds the height of the statue thief.

A spokeswoman for the hotel said she was “thrilled the penguin has been returned to our flock .”