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The tall, shiny metal structure, now known as the “monolith,” was discovered in Utah last week and sparked many theories as to how it came to be, ranging from the remains of TV shows to works of art to aliens.
But now, almost as mysteriously as it looked, he has been pulled out by what local authorities have called “an unknown party”.
“[We] did not remove the structure which is considered private property, ”a spokesperson for the Bureau of Land Management said in a statement. “The structure received international and national attention and we received information that a person or group had removed it on the evening of November 27”.
The office added that it “will not investigate crimes involving private property” because they are “handled by the local sheriff’s office.”
The Utah Department of Public Safety, whose helicopter crew first discovered the facility on Nov. 18 during a bighorn sheep count, initially refused to reveal the location of the structure.
A number of thrill-seeking visitors, however, had since found it located just east of Canyonlands National Park. By the time adventurers Riccardo Marino and Sierra Van Meter went there on Friday evening to take pictures, it was no longer there.
“All that was left in its place was a message written in the mud that said ‘bye bitch’ with a fresh pee stain right next to it,” Marino posted on instagram. “Someone had just stolen the statue and we were the first to arrive on the scene.”
Marino said he saw a pickup truck with a large object in its bed driving in the opposite direction shortly before they arrived. A Reddit user also discovered that the structure, which many believed to be abstract art, had previously been removed.
The object’s origins remain unknown but Bret Hutchings, the helicopter pilot who discovered it, estimated it to be between 10 feet and 12 feet tall (about three meters).
“One of the biologists spotted it, and we just flew straight over it,” Hutchings told KSL. “He was like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, turn around, turn around! And I said to myself “What”. And he said, ‘There’s that thing over there – we’ve got to go look at it!’
Some have compared the art to minimalist sculptors, including the late John McCracken. A spokesperson for his gallery owner, David Zwirner, told the Guardian earlier this week that it was not one of McCracken’s works.
He later told the New York Times, however, it could in fact be by the artist.
Since its disappearance, visitors have started piling stones around the site, as well as the top piece that was left behind.
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