Dennis the Menace is returning home to his namesake playground in Monterey, after rescue divers recovered the bronze statue of the infamous troublemaker that was stolen last August.
Sheriff Tina Nieto called it a happy day for Monterey County.
"And the reason it’s such a happy day is because, we have found Dennis the Menace," she said during a press conference at the Monterey County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday afternoon.
Nieto said the county received an anonymous tip. Rescue divers later retrieved Dennis from a canal near the In-N-Out Burger off of Del Monte Boulevard near Monterey.
This is the second Dennis the Menace statue that has gone missing from the playground. Reporting in the Monterey Herald from August outlines the tragic history of the statue, which was first stolen in 2006 and never recovered. Its replacement lasted for 15 years until its own theft last year.
City officials estimate the statue is about 125 pounds of bronze — all of which will be returned to the Dennis the Menace playground at El Estero park in Monterey.
"We’re giving you back Dennis," Nieto said to Monterey Assistant Chief of Police Mike Bruno. "Don’t let him get stolen again."
It’s unlikely law enforcement will ever catch up with the masterminds behind the crime.
