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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The people who took the two marble stone lions that decorate the entrance of Sunlines Convenience Store gave them back without much of a roar last week.

Sunlines Convenience Store owner Thanh Huynh shows the damage done to his marble stone lions outside his store. The lions were stolen on Thanksgiving weekend but returned during the morning hours of October 16. - Simon Whitehouse/NNSL photo

Yellowknifer reported earlier this month that the two lions - each close to 200 pounds in weight, according to store owner Thanh Huynh - were cut free from their chains and stolen sometime during early morning hours of Oct. 9. After the story broke, the lions were returned to the store's back porch overnight between Oct. 15 and 16, meaning the statues were gone for about a week.

"First I feel very happy because they returned the lions," said Huynh, adding his family, friends and some customers were excited that they were back. "I had some people drive by and swing back and stop to say congratulations."

The stone lions were gifts from friends in Calgary when the Huynh family opened the store in August 2010.

But Huynh was also frustrated with the amount of work that it took to get the heavy lions moved from the porch back to their rightful place in front of the store. He and his son Alan spent a great amount of time and effort dragging them onto his truck and moving them to the store, but he admits the size of the pieces are so large, it should take more than two people.

Unfortunately, the lions did not come back unscathed. Huynh showed Yellowknifer some of the damage done to both. The lion on the left side of the door incurred damage to one of its teeth, a piece of the nose was gone, and scrape marks were seen on the fur and the tail. The lion on the right side, had a scraped mane and the tongue and jaw were both chipped.

Huynh said Frozen Rock studio stone carver Eli Nasogaluak looked at the stone lions over last week and estimated the repair could take over 100 hours. Huynh said he doesn't know what the price could be and he doesn't know at this point if he will get them fixed.

"I had a look at the damage to see how much of the damage there was and after looking at it, I told him it could be repaired," said Nasogaluak, adding he felt bad for Huynh. This was partly because the carvings are of high quality and clearly had a lot of work done to them based on the finish, he said. "One of the teeth is broke right and I think that has the most damage. To repair it the mouth will have to be re-carved lower to get the tooth to stick out again."

Nasogaluak said he was not quite certain how long it would take to fix because he didn't test the hardness of the marble. Huynh said he hopes the media coverage taught the thief a lesson.

"I hope that guy (the thief) learned don't become a jerk no more," said Huynh, when asked if he thought using publicity in the newspaper worked in this instance. He added he has an idea of who the person is that took his statues.

"I give him opportunity to return them, but if he damaged them, I don't know how much the damage costs. If the damage costs so much, I might send him bill and he deal with that. If he don't deal with that, maybe I need lawyer to help me out."

This isn't the first time that Huynh has run into problems with petty crimes and suffered thousands of dollars worth of merchandise stolen and then returned. Last October, thieves made off with some fur hats and seal pelts. Huynh was reunited with them after appealing for their return. Huynh said he constantly worries about such acts.

"See, I work somewhere else during the day and my staff work here, so I worry," he says.

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