The gnome who visited 12 countries

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  • spasmo

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    Apr 27, 2008
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    Gnome at last: Stunned owner finds kidnapped ornament on doorstep, with photos of him in 12 countries around the world | Mail Online
    (link has pictures)

    A gnome snatched from a garden has been returned to its owner's doorstep seven months on, complete with photos of him taken in 12 countries across the world.
    Murphy, a green-hatted leprechaun, is pictured on his travels taking a dip in the sea in Thailand, abseiling down a mountain and standing in a shark's mouth.
    Replicating a scene from the hit French film Amelie, the gnome was placed back on stunned owner Eve Stuart-Kelso's doorstep.
    A note left with the mini-statue and his holiday photo album, containing 48 snaps, put his impromptu world trip down to 'itchy feet'.
    Also with him were immigration stamps from South Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Hong Kong and Laos.
    The gnome, whose 'travelling companion' is referred to only as The Bear, said he attracted unwanted attention from customs officials and took up 25 per cent of the party's luggage allocation.
    Some of the pictures show a group of mysterious young men, who could be the ones responsible for the globe-trotting stunt.
    The letter signed by Murphy left with him said: 'Hello! First of all I feel I should explain my prolonged absence. A gnome's life is full of time for reflection, and whilst surveying your garden one summer morning, I began to get itchy feet.
    'I came to the conclusion that the world is a big place and there is more to life than watching the daily commuter traffic, and allowing passing cats to urinate on you.
    'So I decided to free myself from the doldrums of the Shire and seek adventure. My travels have taken me across three continents, 12 countries and more time zones than I can possibly remember.
    'There have been high points, low points, and positively terrifying points. But I have survived - small thanks to the companion with whom I have shared all these moments.'
    The bizarre crime echoes the French film starring Audrey Tautou in which a gnome belonging to Amelie's father is taken around the world and photographed to show him how much he is missing out on in life.
    Mrs Stuart-Kelso, a grandmother of three from Longlevens, said: 'The leprechaun went missing many, many months ago and I had forgotten about it.
    'Then I opened the door on Thursday and saw he was back. It was such a shock. I thought, "Well, it's a bit of mischief but at least he hasn't been put through the window".
    'Murphy was quite badly damaged and there was a tightly wrapped parcel next to him. My curiosity eventually overcame my alarm, because I did wonder if it might explode.
    'Then I saw it was a beautifully bound photo album and opened it up. His feet were missing, but that's no real surprise given that he was sent abseiling down a mountain.'
    She added: 'It was the strangest gift I have ever received. I just keep thinking how funny it is. It makes me smile to see all the people he met on his travels. It was a wonderful surprise and of course it's so nice to get some good news.
    'The story really is unbelievable. People have mentioned to me how similar his adventure is to the film Amelie, so perhaps the people who took him got their inspiration from that.'
    Mrs Stuart-Kelso, a tour guide for the Civic Trust, added: 'It was a beautifully written letter. The intriguing thing is that someone had gone to such trouble to do this for a complete stranger.'
    She said her grandchildren, Sophie, 14, Ellie, 13, and Piers, 13, would be thrilled to hear of the gnome's adventures.

    The trio give the green-hatted gnome a fresh coat of paint every year before he vanished.

    A Gloucestershire police spokeswoman said there had been no report of a gnome going missing but added: 'Any theft of a person's property, even if it is carried out as a joke, will be treated as a crime by police.
    'What may seem like a laugh to one person can cause distress to another.'
    Murphy is now back in the garden where he belongs, and his family hopes the wanderlust is out of his system.
     

    22rssix

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    Mar 27, 2008
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    Indianapolis
    I know of someone who is doing this as we speak. They work for a local hospital and someone put a gnome on a desk and they took it. Since taking it this person has passed it along to different people to take on vacation. When the gnome returns to the person who took it he sends photos to the people and keeps a album for himself.

    Everyone thought it was funny until a outside contractor was talking about it and a different employee over heard and told the owner of the gnome. Well after that missing flyers went up. Far as I know he is still traveling and the photos are still being sent to the owner.
     

    Don

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    Jan 17, 2008
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    Greenfield
    Same thing happened on ar15.com. Someones roomie had a yellow duck that she had guarded like it was a kid. Duck got kidnapped and sent all over the place with pics posted of various locations including the Pentagon, NYC,Iraq, etc....


    bdaddysnduck17tr.th.jpg


    27,000 ft
    duck5sunrise8jc.jpg


    duck2uu.jpg


    duckwithammo1tw.jpg


    porn-duck-edit2.jpg



    Muddin
    PanamaDuck.jpg



    FBIDuck.jpg


    DuckandDewaltAR.jpg


    DuckLush.jpg


    Thats all the pics I can find. 95% of the links are dead for the other pics now.
     
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