Athens, GA:

The Garden Club sundial that resided in University of Georgia’s Founders Memorial Garden is missing.The sundial resided in the garden since shortly after its founding in 1938. According to The Founders Garden Director, David Nichols they noticed the vandalism a few days after the incident.

Nichols doesn’t believe someone was out for “monetary gain”, but rather wanted a cool antique. We asked how much the sundial is worth. Laughing, he replied “not much” but it has a lot of “sentimental value…because it is original to the garden.”

They are hopeful to find the original rather than having to replace the sundial. He says this isn’t the first time the prized sundial has left the garden due to vandals. Twenty-five years ago the sundial made its way to the inside “of a fraternity house at Georgia Tech” and then returned to its home in the garden years later.

Nicholas is hopeful it will not take as long to recover the garden’s teller of time this time. He joked that hopefully “the goats will uncover it” as today the “Chew Crew”, a group of sheep and a goat are eating away at some of the unwanted brush in the garden. “Maybe somebody stole it and put it in the bushes.”

But for now the garden will remain timeless. If you have any information on the missing sundial, please contact the UGA Police Department at (706) 542-5813.