A mini van pulls up to the Consign Design lot in Palm Desert over the weekend, something that happens hundreds of times at this high end consignment store, but the men in the van are not shoppers.

“It’s very upsetting. This is the first time something happens at our store like that,” says store manager Ivy Armstrong.

The driver gets out does something out of frame, gets in the van, leaves and less than two minutes later the men in the gold minivan come back, get out and brazenly take two bronze statues.

“We’re talking three and four hundred pound statues and they were chained together,” says Armstrong.

She says the bronze statues are worth thousands. “One of them was the Aries sign which is a lady holding two buckets and she was about three feet tall, the other one was about four feet tall and she was a lady pouring a pot into a shell and it could be a water feature like for a pond.”

And while the two men seem to be prepared for the job at hand, “they knew what they were doing because they came in the right size vehicle, with the right size man power and the right tool to cut it. It’s definitely not their first time stealing,” she says adding they weren’t counting on being caught in the act. “They didn’t hide their identity at all they just came right in, pulled up jumped out of the vehicle, walked back and forth so they obviously thought there was no cameras.”

But she says they still have a chance to do the right thing, “Bring them back, you know, bring them back no questions asked, I guess and shame on you.”

If you recognize the men or the statues, call the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Palm Desert Station: (760) 836-1600.

Palm Desert Thieves Caught on Camera Swiping Statues