Br’er Rabbit statue stolen from outside Eatonton museum

Br’er Rabbit, famously born and bred in the briar patch, may soon become iron scrap.

At least a 3-foot-tall statue of him might.

The 250-or-so-pound likeness of Joel Chandler Harris’ most famous critter was pilfered from outside the Uncle Remus Museum in downtown Eatonton.

The caper has, as the author might’ve put it, caused “a considerbul flutter.”

“You can add some humor to it, but it’s a serious theft,” Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills said Wednesday. “People are calling. They’re upset about it.”

Thieves -- no doubt sly Mr. Foxes -- with a crowbar pried the statue a’loose Sunday night and, lippity-clippity, made off with a town treasure.

For now at least, the villains, well, they lay low.

“The briar patch is hard to find Br’er Rabbit in as you well know,” the sheriff joked. “We picked up Br’er Fox ... (but he had) an iron-clad alibi. ... We got Tar-Baby, but he won’t say nothing.”

This story was originally published August 11, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Br’er Rabbit statue stolen from outside Eatonton museum."