Bronze bear sculpture stolen from University of Maine campus

An $8,000 copper bear statue was stolen from the University of Maine just days after four vandals destroyed a sign on campus valued at $4,000, campus police said.

UM police are now offering a $500 reward to anyone with credible information on who stole the bear in front of the Buchanan Alumni House on the school’s Orono campus on Nov. 23.

The theft came three days after four male suspects destroyed the sign in front of the same building, police said in a Facebook post.

Police posted photos of the four suspects who destroyed the sign in a caught-on-video incident after midnight on Nov. 20.

The suspects were later identified and referred to school authorities, according to the Bangor Daily News.

A UM spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the missing sculpture case remains under investigation.

Those with credible tips were encouraged to reach out to the UM Police at um.policedepartment@maine.edu.

The University of Maine is a public land-grant research university established in 1865 on Marsh Island on the Penobscot River in the small town of Orono, less than 10 miles from Bangor.

Home to 11,989 graduate and undergraduate students, the school’s mascot has been a black bear for more than a century.