The ‘Owl Bandit’ case solved

KILGORE – After 50 years, a long-standing mystery at the Kilgore Public Library has finally come to an end.
Since the mid-1970s, the identity of the owl bandit and the location of the wooden “Owl of Wisdom” have remained unknown. The entire city has been curious about who took the owl that once sat at the library’s east entrance.

“In the 1960s, we’d go to the library, study and have things going on, and I remember we all talked about the owl out there. It was just one of those things that was there. Then one day it disappeared,” T. Anderson, a former Kilgore Bulldog, said.

The man who reportedly stole it, Steve Blunt, died a few years ago, but it was his wish for the owl to be returned to the library.

“It means so much to us because we’ve always heard stories about this owl, but we’ve never seen it. We only have one picture of it and it’s very grainy. It’s very hard to see what the owl looks like, so we had always just wanted to see it, wanted to see what it looked like,” Kilgore Public Library Director, Stacey Cole said.

It wasn’t the only owl taken; a second was donated, and it was stolen as well.

“There’s always somebody that ruins it, you know it, kids, kids doing their little things. We did things, but we weren’t destructive. We don’t think we were,” Anderson said.
As for the original sculpture, Anderson is glad that the symbol of education and wisdom can look over the next generation, but maybe now from the inside.

“I think it’s hex on that deal, but put it in that, probably the best thing,” Anderson said.
A third owl is inside the library and staff say they’d love to have all three owls together. The library said they hope whoever stole the second one would bring it home to roost with no questions asked.