TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT—Thieves had to come right up to the house to steal Buck the deer from the front yard. people that it’s just bored teenagers. Well, that’s not right. What they did was wrong,” King said. Anyone with information the whereabouts of Buck or information about who took him can contact Detective Ferguson at (805) 494-8228. Buck, an 80-pound deer, has never run away before, but on the night of Sept. 12 the statue went missing from its Newbury Park home in Deer Ridge.

“He was too well loved and taken care of,” said deer owner Theresa King.

She added that so far, no ransom note has arrived. And although she laughed at that thought, she doesn’t find the theft of her deer funny at all.

“I’m really angry at the bold, brazen way our deer statue was stolen during the night from our front lawn so close to our front entrance.”

It was well lit outside around the deer, King said. She and her husband and their three dogs were inside.

“It’s going to be hard to replace, but I don’t know that I’d replace it if people will so boldly steal it like that,” King said.

Years ago she paid $600 for the deer, which was 60 percent off the original price, she said.

A theft of items valued at more than $400 is a felony.

“This is an isolated incident. No other lawn statues, no garden gnomes have been reported stolen recently,” said Detective Mike Ferguson.

He suspects at least three teenagers grabbed it and took it away.

“Maybe they took it out to the woods to shoot paintballs at it,” he said.

Or maybe, he continued, it’s been put in someone else’s yard and that person doesn’t know where it came from.

At first King thought it was just a prank and that the deer would be found nearby.

Once she realized it was really gone, she said she’s felt vulnerable and violated.

King has raised four children in Newbury Park and she understands pranks. Having their house toilet papered wasn’t an uncommon occurrence when her children were growing up, she said, but the theft of a beloved statue is something else entirely.

“I hope whoever did this stops and thinks about what they’ve done and brings it back. This is serious,” King said.

And nobody should tell her that Newbury Park is a safe community. King, who grew up in a high-crime area in the projects of Detroit, said that even there, people respected other people’s lawn decorations.

“I’m really tired of hearing how safe it is here. I don’t feel safe when someone comes so close to my house like they did,” she said.

“Usually lawn decorations are stolen around the holidays with Christmas ornaments outside on the lawns,” Ferguson said.

“I’ve been told by many people that it's just bored teenagers. Well, that's not right. What they did was wrong," King said.

Those with any information on the whereabouts of Buck or information about who took the statue can contact Detective Mike Ferguson at (805) 494-8228.