Have You Seen This Pterodactyl? Dinosaur Missing In Mexico City

(MENAFN- Live Mint) (Bloomberg) -- A smuggle worthy of Jurassic Park villain Dennis Nedry. A giant mechanical dinosaur was stolen from a exhibition at a popular mall in southern Mexico City, according to local media.

The $109,000 pterodactyl, a unique piece made for the Jurassic World show, was last seen between July 17 and 18, and authorities started an investigation Wednesday, checking security cameras and interviewing potential witnesses.

The theft of a dinosaur at a shopping mall is a first in the country, adding to a long list of stolen or mutilated pieces at open air or closed exhibitions.

In 1999, 12 paintings by famed artist Rufino Tamayo were stolen from a gallery holding a show in his honor. The pieces were soon recovered. In 2000, a 90 cm-tall (2.95 feet) bronze statue of a Celtic deity by famed artist Leonora Carrington was stolen from Reforma, one of the main avenues in the country's capital, despite a security detail assigned to keep an eye on it and dozens of other sculptures in display. The heavy piece was dropped and recovered from a park nearby.

Last year, a quarter-ton, 3 meter-high horse statue by Isauro Ali disappeared from an area next to a military headquarter in the capital. But perhaps the most brazen theft was that of a massive bronze statue of Mexican Independence hero Jose Maria Morelos riding a horse that in 2012 was cut and stolen in pieces from the side of a road connecting Mexico City with the weekend retreat city of Cuernavaca.

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