Lorax Sculpture Stolen From Seuss Widow’s Home

Authorities were on the lookout today for the crooks behind the Grinch-worthy theft of a 2-foot-tall bronze "Lorax'' statue from the oceanfront La Jolla home of Dr. Seuss' 90-year-old widow.

Audrey Geisel and a groundskeeper discovered the 300-pound piece of custom artwork missing from the garden of the Encelia Drive estate on Monday morning, according to San Diego police.

The portly, bushy-mustached figurine -- based on the title character of an environmental-themed 1971 children's book by Theodor Geisel, who used the pen name Dr. Seuss -- was last seen in its rightful post on Saturday afternoon, SDPD public-affairs Lt. Andra Brown said.

Drag marks on the ground showed the route by which the Lorax-nappers dragged the statue to a street, according to Brown. Nothing else was believed to have been stolen during the heist, the lieutenant said.

The piece, one of two commissioned by the author's stepdaughter, is valued at $10,000.

Theodor Geisel died in 1991 at age 87.

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