Tacoma gets its heart back after thief returns sign to the 253 at Titlow Beach
Tacoma got its stolen heart back Tuesday afternoon.
In June, artist John James Nelson just wanted to brighten Tacoma’s mood when he hung a lighted heart made from the numerals 2-5-3 on offshore pilings at Titlow Beach.
Originally, it was part of a guerrilla art installation — a 30-foot-long glowing homage to an iconic 1909 promotion. CJ Cooper, a photographer friend, helped attach the heart between glowing letters spelling “You’ll” and “Tacoma.”
You’ll Love Tacoma.
“The bottom line, this piece is for the city. This is for everybody,” Nelson told News Tribune columnist Matt Driscoll at the time.
On Sunday night, someone interpreted Nelson’s words as, “This is for somebody.”
Eventually, Nelson removed the assemblage from the piers. He later it attached it to a balustrade on the dock near Steamers Seafood Cafe. The restaurant provided power for the sign.
A few days later, Nelson removed “You’ll” and “Tacoma” and just left the heart.
There it glowed for three months.
“It’s been there this whole time and no one has messed with it,” Nelson said.
Until Sunday.
Between 10:30 and 11 p.m., somebody detached the heart and made off with it.
Nelson, who lives nearby, came by minutes later.
“Half an hour earlier, I would have caught them in the act,” he said.
Nelson and the heart’s copyright owner, Steve Naccarato, both posted news of the theft on social media Monday. Grit City Magazine and others spread it further. Condemnation quickly spread.
“No one takes the heart to the city and gets away with it,” Nelson wrote on Instagram. “Please do the right thing and make an anonymous call to Steamers, or just leave it.”
Like other restaurants in Washington, Steamers is open for takeout only during the coronavirus crisis.
Tuesday morning, someone at Steamers got a call. The thief saw the comments and apparently felt guilty. Or scared. They agreed to return the heart.
Tuesday afternoon, it was left in a nearby park.
Nelson doesn’t know who it was and doesn’t want to.
“I’m trying to opt out on that because with the (coronavirus) crisis and everything, they might have made a wrong choice,” Nelson speculated. “I don’t want to put a name to the face.”
On Monday afternoon, the thief sent a picture to Steamers showing where they had left the sign and apologized to Nelson.
“It looks like it’s in good shape, no damage.”
