Lorax Statue Stolen From Home Of Dr. Seuss, Widow Audrey Geisel [PHOTO]

The 3-foot, 300-pound bronze Lorax statue that sits outside of the San Diego home of Dr. Seuss, whose real name was Theodor Geisel, was stolen over the weekend.

The statue was stolen from the backyard garden of Seuss's home, where his 90-year-old widow Audrey Geisel lives, in La Jolla, Calif. and reported missing Monday morning.

The Lorax statue was made by Audrey Geisel's daughter, Lark Grey Dimond-Cate, who is also the step-daughter of Seuss. Dimond-Cite expressed her dismay in the thieves who stole the iconic, and beloved, statue. KPBS placed the value of the statue at $10,000.

It's crummy to sneak into a 90-year-old widow's home, in the dead of night, and steal her Lorax. You can't be doing that, she told Entertainment Weekly. It gave her so much happiness to get up it the morning and look out the window and see her little Lorax. And she got up the other day, and he wasn't there.

According to San Diego Police Lt. Andra Brown, the statue was reported missing on Monday, when authorities found evidence in the yard, as reported to Reuters. Police believe the statue, which weighs 300 pounds, was rolled down a hill into the next door property and loaded in a get-a-way car, perhaps because of the new release of the film currently in theaters.

We don't know if it's just a prank because of the recent release of the movie or if someone thinks it's going to be worth a buck or two because it's a lot of (metal), Brown told Reuters.

Property manager Carl Romero said the theft of the Lorax statue is no coincidence, as cameras were not yet installed at the property.

It's peculiar that the Lorax was stolen right before the camera was installed, Romero told the San Diego Union-Tribune. It's not a coincidence. It's very private up here.

Romero extended a wrath of guilt to the thieves who took the statue, saying legal actions will be taken.

Give me a call, I'll come and get it. I won't press charges. But if we find it.... we definitely will press charges. So your name will be in print and everybody'll know you did it, he told Entertainment Weekly.

We're just hoping that the suspects return it, Brown told Reuters. The Geisel family is just asking that it be returned and they don't want to pursue the matter any further. Which is not to say the police won't.

Lark Grey Dimond-Cate agrees that the return of the statue will make everything better.

Let's bring a happy end to this story, Dimond-Cate told Entertainment Weekly. The little guy doesn't belong to ya. He belongs up at Seuss house. Bring him home.

Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, died in 1991 at the age of 87.