Fayetteville store owner ruffled after thieves make off with decorative chickens
FAYETTEVILLE (WTVD) -- Some thieves are running afoul of the law in Fayetteville, and a business owner is quite upset that a couple of her "chickens" have flown the coop.
They aren't your typical chickens.
Sherry Vernon had two larger-than-life chickens outside her antique mall on Ramsey Street. But early Friday morning, crooks in a white van stole the birds, ruffling Vernon's feathers.
"I was angry," Vernon said. "Worked really hard to have your own business to provide for your family, and you know when someone steals something from me, you can yell at me, cuss me, I don't care, you steal from me that's pretty bad."
Surveillance cameras caught a white van driving off, after two men struggled to lift the birds that were attached to 100-pound concrete into the vehicle.
The chickens were not your average bird. They were about 6 feet tall, made of metal, and their feet were bolted to a concrete slab.
Vernon said her missing chickens aren't worth much as scrap metal, or a yard ornament, and says she's heard an awful lot of chicken jokes today.
"The chicken has flew the coop, the chicken cross the road," Vernon said. "Why did the chicken cross the road? To get away from the crooks trying to steal him."
In all seriousness, Vernon, who grew up with chickens on a farm, said stealing her two birds is not funny, and she is offering a reward to get them back.
"We know who you are, and we can see the van you know, and just shame on you," she said.
Hopefully, the chickens will come home to roost.
