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Arts and Entertainment

70-Pound Painting Valued At $5,000 Stolen At Venice Festival

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A local artist is wondering how someone made off with one of his paintings since it weighs 70 pounds and is more than six feet wide.

Josh Serafin, who lives in Huntington Beach, was selling his work at the Abbot Kinney Festival on Sunday, ABC7 reports. The painting that was stolen is of a leopard shark on recycled glass. Serafin says the piece is worth $5,000.

"It's 70 pounds. This is a heavy piece. I need help hanging it. It isn't light. So it was definitely a joint effort," Serafin said.

He said he was loading two other pieces and when he went to get the shark painting, it was gone. He said it's the first time he's had anything stolen in his 12 years of exhibiting.

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His tent was set up in front of FEED Body & Soul restaurant at 1239 Abbot Kinney Blvd. The restaurant has a video camera facing the street, according to ABC, but going over surveillance footage usually takes a while.

"To steal someone's art that they spent so much time on, it's just hard to believe. I mean I guess, people, it must be that they're high," Serafin said. He's hoping someone comes forward to return the painting or i.d. the thieves.

If you have any information about this crime, contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS.

A bigger (literally) art theft occurred earlier this year when thieves made off with a 200-pound bright pink dog statue from West Hollywood.

Related:
Who Stole West Hollywood's 200-Pound Pink Bulldog?
Lost & Found: Stolen Rembrandt Sketch Recovered At Encino Church
Video: The Banksy Heist. Sale or Theft? Or Both?

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