15-Foot Spoon Stolen From Phoenix Dairy Queen®
A 15-foot red spoon, an iconic statue outside a Dairy Queen® in Phoenix, stirred up quite the mystery when it was stolen in late March 2023.
An Unusual Theft
Raman Kalra and his wife Puja had placed the giant spoon as a fun photo-op for their customers. The spoon, a larger-than-life replica of the plastic utensils accompanying Dairy Queen's signature Blizzard® frozen treats, disappeared from its place of prominence along the eatery's exterior wall in the middle of the night. Surveillance footage showed two men and a woman carefully unscrewing the giant spoon and loading it onto a large flatbed truck.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Raman noted that the thieves were "so precise about it like they had done it before. They just wiggled their way through and made sure the spoon was not damaged." It's hard to imagine how tricky the theft must have been given the sheer size of the spoon and the way it was vertically positioned, poking up through a roof rampart.
'Where's My Spoon?'
The Kalras were dismayed by the theft, and also a little incredulous. "It looks empty and incomplete without that spoon," owner Puja Kalra told the Associated Press. "What are they going to do with a spoon?"
Replacing the spoon would cost over $7,000. They reached out to the community for help, printing T-shirts that read "Where's my spoon?" and offering a reward of free Blizzard treats for any information leading to its return.
'It's the Spoon'
A week after the theft, Michael Foster, a 52-year-old Pokémon™ GO player, stumbled upon the missing spoon while walking near a middle school baseball field, about two miles from the Dairy Queen. Foster, who was on a virtual hunt for Pokémon, instead found the giant spoon lying on the grass.
According to The New York Post, Foster texted his wife, "It's the spoon," along with a picture of the giant red utensil laying in the outfield. Foster then called the police. Officers arrived on the scene, and with the help of Foster and a school maintenance worker, they managed to lift the spoon over the fence, securing it to the top of a police cruiser.
The Return of the Spoon
The Kalras were overjoyed to have their spoon back, expressing gratitude to the community and to Foster for its safe return. They hope the spoon will continue to bring smiles and serve as a beloved photo backdrop.
Meanwhile, the Phoenix police are still on the lookout for the thieves, who remain unidentified. One can only wonder what they wanted to do with the giant spoon, and whether or not they were successful.
References: 15-foot spoon stolen from Arizona Dairy Queen found by Pokémon Go player | Dairy Queen Location Searching for Their Stolen 15-Foot Spoon Is Offering Free Blizzards as a Reward | Arizona Dairy Queen on the hunt for missing red spoon statue
