The gang’s all here — again.
Beloved Peanuts cartoon characters are back at home with Oak Bay’s parks department after being stolen in November from their prominent spot in the municipality’s annual holiday display at Entrance Park.
Snoopy, Charlie Brown and his sister Sally were taken.
The painted plywood figures appeared Wednesday morning in the park at the corner of Foul Bay Road and Oak Bay Avenue, said Chris Hyde-Lay, municipal parks manager.
The three are now safely stored with Lucy and Peppermint Patty, which were not stolen, and the municipality’s other holiday decorations. Before being put out for the next holiday season, they will get a fresh coat of paint.
They will be put out “for all to enjoy” this winter, Hyde-Lay said, who is thankful they were all returned.
As for who had been holding on to them, that remains an unsolved mystery.
The Peanuts characters were made by Oak Bay employee Tim Roberts and his daughter Meghan years ago, and were later donated to Oak Bay, Hyde-Lay said.
When the characters were taken, “the community was crushed,” he said.
Another family stepped in to make facsimiles of the three missing characters.
Now residents are celebrating the return of the originals. A page on social media has hundreds of positive responses to the news that the Peanuts gang is together again.
cjwilson@timescolonist.com
