Thief Takes Off With Davis Children's Artwork Set For School Auction

DAVIS (CBS13) – A thief took off with artwork made by children, leaving them puzzled who would steal from them.

"What are you going to do with stuff from a framing store?" said mother Cathy Pickel-Hicks.

That seems to be the question many St. James parents and teachers want answered.

"It was an awesome project," Pickel-Hicks said.

Student art projects that were to be auctioned off during the school's annual fundraiser were dropped off at Kwan's Framing, ready for their final touch.

But this weekend, they received some devastating news.

"Kwan had been broken into," Pickel-Hicks said.

The projects the students had worked on since September – gone. For Pickel-Hicks, a mom and the 5th grade project coordinator, the news was disheartening.

"It's not going to mean anything to them, but it means something to the people who had it there," Pickel-Hicks said.

Pickel-Hicks created a 30-by-40 canvas out of photos from her student's drawings of personalized tree houses. Her twin 5th graders say that, at least, the class project can be replaced.

"If it was the original piece, I'd be pretty upset," Bryan said.

"It's not too big of a blow, but the second graders didn't get so lucky," Robert said.

The other piece stolen from Kwan's was an original art project put together by second graders at St. James.

Pickel-Hicks says the pieces usually go for about 2-3 thousand dollars at the school's auction – money that helps keep them afloat.

"The salaries, school supplies, maintenance, whatever is needed to run St. James," Pickel-Hicks said.

The school auction will still be held on Dec. 6, and the two classes will be scrambling to put together something at the last minute.

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