Where are the Woylies?

Bronze Woylie Sculptures Stolen from Courthouse Lane, Fremantle

In late September, I wrote an article with photographs – Where’s Woylie? – about my favourite Freo Lane—Courthouse Lane and its twelve delightful bronze woylie sculptures by Ben Jones.

The Woylies are gone apart from one perched on the roof of Cassias. It looks very lonely up there all alone. Four sculptures were stolen one night, and the other seven have been removed, presumably for safe keeping.

Here at the Fremantle Shipping News, we are disappointed and frustrated by yet another bronze art theft from a prominent Freo location. The incident has drawn attention to the vulnerability of public art installations.

The woylie sculptures depicted the endangered woylie—also known as the brush-tailed bettong and were a celebrated feature of Fremantle’s urban landscape. These works held significant cultural and environmental value.

If you do know anything about the whereabouts of the four stolen ones, do tell the Police.

Story and photographs by Jean Hudson @jeansodyssey.

*Jean Hudson is our Shipping and Sailing Correspondent and also a regular feature writer and photographer here on the Shipping News. You may also like to follow up her informative Places I Love stories, as well as other feature stories and Freo Today photographs, right here.

~ If you’d like to COMMENT on this or any of our stories, don’t hesitate to email our Editor.

~ WHILE YOU’RE HERE –