Found! 1,260 pound propeller was stolen from Seattle professor’s yard

Thieves dove up an alley in the University District Tuesday morning and somehow managed to lift a 70-inch, 1,260-pound stainless steel propeller over a retaining wall and fence and make off with it.

Update: Seattle Parks has possession of the propeller that was stolen earlier this week from the University District. After discovering the stolen propeller at the Northwest Corporate Park in Kent, a security guard contacted the Kent Police Department.

Philip Thiel, a naval architect and Professor Emeritus of Architecture and Urban Design and Planning at the University of Washington, and the University District Community Council were preparing the propeller for installation in a north end park.

The parks department reported there were no witnesses. Neighbors heard a commotion and called the police, but the thieves were long gone. The department asked for the public's help in locating the propeller.