Kill Devil Hills, NC
NSP Employees Stunned
National Park Service employees reporting to work Monday were shocked to discover the beloved Wright Brother’s Monument had been stolen. Dedicated in 1932, the Wright Brothers Monument has been a fixture on the Outer Banks and a popular destination for school groups. The 60 foot granite structure commemorates the first heavier-than-air powered flight in 1903 by Orville and Wilbur Wright, a couple of mechanically inclined tourists from Ohio.
Ranger Rikk with the Park Service told OBX Report in an exclusive interview that Park Service employees had left the Monument unlocked Sunday evening. Thieves were able to enter the Memorial and easily unhook the tie-downs holding the monument in place. They then used a crane to lift the Memorial onto the back of a pickup. Ranger Rikk speculated the truck was a Ford 250 or 350 as there was “no way” a Chevy could possibly move that sort of payload.
Photo Released
A neighbor’s personal security system captured a portion of daring heist and the NPS released a still from the video. In the picture, thieves have already attached the Wright Memorial to a crane and are preparing to move it to the pickup. Unfortunately, due to distance and poor lighting, details of the culprits are impossible to make out. It appears five individuals were involved in the theft including a man serving as a lookout who appeared to be wearing a pelican suit.
KDH Residents Shocked
“Flabbergasted,” “Nonplussed,” “Mystified,” “Gobsmacked.” These and several other reactions unfit to print were how residents of Kill Devil Hills reacted to the news of the stolen Monument.
“I saw it was missing this morning and I just figured they’d moved it back a bit like they done the Hatteras lighthouse a few years ago ‘cause of the beach erosion,” said Melvin Fussell who owns a home directly across from the Wright Memorial. “To think somebody took her…I just hope they ain’t doin’ it for scrap. That’d be a waste.”
According to Wilma Persimmons, a You-Tube educated naturalist studying the indigenous deer population living in the area of the Memorial, the loss of the Monument will have a significant impact on wildlife in the area.
“The Memorial has become an important navigational beacon for the native deer herd migrating between here and Florida. Now I’m worried the deer will get lost and just keep on going north until they get to the Washington Monument. It’s a little outside my area of expertise but I expect this will also have an impact on our Purple Martin community as well as Cessna operators.”
Impact on Tourism Still Being Calculated
Visitor reactions have ranged from “At least they didn’t take one of the lighthouses” to “Thanks Obama.”
A very despondent Norbert Hunsucker was photographed sitting in front of the now-empty plaza where the Wright Memorial once stood.
“He’s been like that for hours,” his mother, Madeline Hunsucker said, assuring us that Norbert’s visit to the Memorial was entirely voluntary and he was not part of any school group. “The whole way from Pennsylvania he talked about how excited he was to see the Monument in person. Now…maybe they have a scale model or something in the gift shop.”
Young Hunsucker’s photo has been shared over 16 times, principally by Hunsucker’s family, and is on the verge of going viral.