There’s no rest for the wicked.
A beloved painted bench – the crown jewel of a quirky gnome-themed garden in Queens embraced by locals for more than a decade – was bizarrely stolen from outside its owners’ home last week.
The iron art piece – inscribed with a quote from poet Charles Bukowski and dubbed “The Gnome Bench” by residents – was lifted from its 15-year-old resting spot in the wee hours of Sept. 1, said Long Island City homeowner and artist Christopher Carlson to The Post.
“It became a weird thing of its own,” Carlson said of the bench, which he initially painted for “fun” – and watched it quickly become a treasured landmark of the neighborhood in its spot on 47th Road near 11th Street.
“The pre-school would pass, and they liked it, so I kept adding [gnomes] to it,” he said, calling the theft a “let down.”
Carlson’s wife, Susan Phuvasitkul, said the theft “is bad karma.
“There’s kids that used to sit on it, and families would stop, and this bench was such a landmark to the community,” she said. “People were constantly outside taking photos.
“It was a regular stop for people who wanted to take a moment … And the kids would get such joy. It was a lovely thing.
“It’s really disappointing. … It’s been a real disappointment to the community,” Phuvaskitkul said.
The green bench was bolted down until recently while the family did work on their patio.
The couple’s Ring camera was down at the time of the crime, they said, adding they’ve already filed a police report and are asking neighbors for their security footage.
“Every once in a while, a gnome goes missing, and that’s fine,” Carlson said. “But a whole bench?
“At first I thought it was like drunk kids or just teenagers, but then usually you would dump it at the corner because the joke’s over. But it’s gone,” he said.
Furious locals didn’t take long to post on Reddit about their vanished “local landmark,” with one user lamenting, “This is why we can’t have nice things.”
Outside Carlson’s home, a 7-year-old boy named Max stopped by Tuesday afternoon with his mom, Bridget Richichi — as they’ve regularly done for the last three years.
“It’s cool,” Max said of the beloved bench. “I don’t know why would someone take it to steal.
“[I liked] that I could sit on it and take photos.”
His mom said, “All the kids would come by, it was cute, the kids liked walking down this block because of that.
“This is a relatively safe neighborhood, but in New York City, anything can happen,” she said. “It’s disappointing, but I can’t say I’m surprised.”
Carlson said he believes that the thief responsible came with a van with the intention of taking the bench, noting the iron structure weighs “a hundred pounds and some change.”
While he doesn’t expect it to come back, he vowed to make a new one.
“What can you do? Make another one, something different,” he said. “It was something special to us, then the whole neighborhood, and someone stole it.
“If there’s a big change of heart and it’s magically there in the morning, that would be great.”
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