Thieves were caught on camera in the middle of the day stealing a 300-pound artificial rhino worth $5,000 from a Wilton Manors business.
On Monday afternoon, the rhino, made of fiber glass, was heavy and mounted in the ground with concrete and stolen right outside The Plant Guy.
"They backed the truck up right in front of our artificial rhinos and they just started pulling them out of the ground," said owner Matthew Lang.
Lang said the rhino takes about two weeks to make.
In surveillance video, four guys show up in a pick-up truck. A man wearing a red shirt distracted the workers who were out back preparing to relocate the business.
"We are downsizing because of the coronavirus and we actually were removing the product from our store," Lang said.
While the man distracts, the other three continue to try and steal the rhino. They are then seen grabbing tools to uproot it and shove it in the back of the pickup.
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"We’ve been out of business for five weeks now, so it's like the last thing. Those weren’t actually paid for yet, they were all on consignment," Lang said.
He added that one of the suspects dropped a cellphone and returned to get it.
Two other artificial animals, a dinosaur and a ram, were stolen last week.
"We’re not sure if it was the same guys, but that was about $10,000," he said.
Anyone with information about the theft should call Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.
