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A Bartlesville man has taken to the NextDoor app to look for a family cornerstone that was stolen off his property a month ago.

Martin Mayer said someone took a heavy concrete topiary seal right off his front porch, and he'd like it back. He said the stone seal has been a part of his life for 40 years.

The primary caretaker of the seal statue when Mayer was a young man was his mother. She passed three years ago from lung cancer. As Mayer put it, the concrete piece was a bit of an orphan, but his mother loved it and cared for it.

She left northern California with the 18 to 19-inch figure that weighs 45 pounds with her after a divorce. It remained in her back yard for more than 20 years.

Mayer said he does not think that the seal's captor(s) realizes that they have liberated a powerful touchstone in his life. He said he took great comfort in the seal being on his porch.

To whoever took the seal from Mayer, he asks that you bring it home. There would be no questions asked if that person were to bring back the statue to his care.

Bringing it back shows that one has a heart. Mayer added that if it is found somewhere other than his front porch, he will go through with criminal prosecution.

Mayer said the seal statue was also his way of signifying that he had “sealed the deal” to stay in Bartlesville for good. Aside from this one bad apple that has fallen from the tree, Mayer said he wants to be in Bartlesville because he loves the real sense of community and how refreshing it is to live here. But he is now looking for that symbol to come back into his life.

If you see the statue, Mayer asks that you report it to the Bartlesville Police Department.