Now you see it, now you don’t. Have you seen the Big Mango from Bowen?
ONE of Queensland’s landmark “big” attractions has disappeared in an apparent overnight heist.
The 10m-high Big Mango at Bowen in north Queensland was prised from its concrete platform where it had sat for more than a decade.
Bowen Tourist Information Centre manager Christin Short was the first to notice when he arrived at work this morning – and assumed it must have been removed for repairs.
But a call to the Bowen Tourism Chairman Paul McLaughlin confirmed there was no planned maintenance – and an inspection found the three-storey mango had indeed been unbolted and stolen,
Any motive remains unclear.
Bowen is Australia’s mango producing capital and the Big Mango was created in 2002 as a tourist attraction.
ABC journalist Jessica Nairn tweeted on a sighting in the early hours.
Jessica Nairn @jessnairn Follow: “The 10 metre high Bowen ‘Big Mango’ has gone missing overnight! Culprits were spotted using heavy machinery to move the fruit around 2am.” 11:06 AM – 24 Feb 2014
