A six-foot tall, metal rooster adorned the entrance to Colter Hoyt’s farm in Boulder County for a year and a half. According to Hoyt, bicyclists and joggers frequently took selfies with the grand rooster as they traveled past it on the dirt road. The rooster was once used as a mile marker in a marathon.
“He was famous in a sense,” Hoyt said.
On the morning of Sunday, June 20, however, Hoyt awoke to find the rooster missing from his regular posting. Hoyt’s first thought was that the wind might have blown the sculpture away. After a canvas of the surrounding area with no sign of the rooster, Hoyt returned to the four-foot-tall mount the rooster had sat upon to investigate. There, he noticed the bolts that connected the rooster to the mount had been unscrewed cleanly. Hoyt’s beloved rooster had been stolen in the middle of the night.
“I was utterly surprised and shocked; my mouth just dropped,” Hoyt said.
He imagined the theft of the rooster could not have been an easy heist.
“He was bolted on pretty good so it definitely took some effort,” Hoyt said. “(The rooster) was also cumbersome; it’s not easy to fit in any car.”
Hoyt and his family bought the rooster for $200 at a tractor supply store in Buena Vista, Colorado nearly two years ago. During transport to Hoyt’s farm in Boulder County, and thereafter, the rooster underwent several physical deconstructions and reconstructions.
“During transport on the roof, (the rooster’s) first wing broke off,” Hoyt said, “I fixed it.” Later, as a result of high winds on the farm, the rooster’s other wing blew off. Again, Hoyt made repairs to the wing himself. “Then the whole thing broke in high winds,” Hoyt said.
This time, Hoyt hired someone to replace the springs that connected the rooster’s wings to its body with heavy duty bolts. “We welded him back tough,” Hoyt said.
Following the rooster’s disappearance, Hoyt posted about the event on Facebook, offering a humorous description (“… Stole my cock! Someone suffers from envy!”) as well as a small reward for its return or information on its whereabouts. Hoyt received several tips in response.
“I’ve already gotten leads,” Hoyt said, “I drove 20 miles to see (a rooster sculpture).” However, as soon as Hoyt saw the similar-looking rooster, he knew it was not his. Hoyt said the custom welding that was done on his rooster sculpture “distinguishes it from the rest.”
Though he was heartbroken by the rooster’s disappearance, Hoyt said the loss he feels is not for the sculpture’s monetary value. “We really miss our rooster,” Hoyt said, “it was loved and appreciated. Our place looks naked without it and our home feels naked without it.”
To the person who stole the rooster, Hoyt said, “we would really like it back.”
Carrie Haverfield, public information specialist with Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, said the person who stole the rooster would be charged with misdemeanor theft. “Unfortunately, we have no leads at this point,” Haverfield said.
If you or anyone you know has information on the whereabouts of the rooster, please contact the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office at (303) 441-3600.
