SAUGUS — Five days after a wooden Tiki man was abducted from Kowloon Restaurant, he was returned to the parking lot unharmed.
Bobby Wong, who owns the Route 1 restaurant with his siblings, said the decoration went missing Saturday night. While on social media, he found a photo of the statue buckled into somebody’s front seat. The statue is two-and-a-half feet tall and weighs about five pounds. It carries a watermelon on top of its head and wears a grass skirt.
Wong, who appreciated that the thief secured his friend with a seatbelt, decided to have some fun with the misfortune. He created a missing poster advocating for the tiki man’s safe return.
“On or around the night of Saturday, July 26, 2019, a member of our Tiki family (went) missing,” the poster read .”(His) whereabouts (are) unknown and there has been no communications or demands from any person or persons as of yet.”
The flyer called for the thief to return the figurine, no questions asked. It offered a “very handsome reward” for any information leading to his return.
But that handsome reward was not money.
“It’s a picture of Tom Brady,” he said.
Wong also planned to post photos of women and children tiki statues, pleading that he be returned to his family.
But none of that was necessary. Once the poster appeared on the restaurant’s social media accounts, tiki man was dropped off anonymously.
“I was kind of hoping it would last longer,” said Wong. “But I think they must have been like ‘Whoa, they know who we are’ because we had their picture.”
In the end, Wong said he’s just happy his friend was returned safely.
“The saga of the Tiki man from Kowloon has a happy ending,” said Wong. “It’s back outside in the bar where it belongs.”
