Missing sculpture commemorating Hemingway’s Michigan is back

BEAVER ISLAND, Mich. – Authorities say a missing sculpture that’s part of an effort to commemorate author Ernest Hemingway’s ties to northern Michigan has been returned.

The Charlevoix County sheriff’s office says deputies noticed about midnight Thursday that the sculpture was back outside the Beaver Island District Library on Beaver Island, which is located in Lake Michigan off of Michigan’s northwestern Lower Peninsula.

The sheriff’s office is investigating who took the sculpture and its return.

The roughly 9-foot-tall (2.7-meter-tall), 200-pound (91 kilogram) orange metal sculpture featuring cut-out images was discovered missing earlier this month.

Hemingway was born July 21, 1899, in Oak Park, Illinois. His family spent summers at their cottage on Michigan’s Walloon Lake. Hemingway’s adventures in the area inspired many of his early short stories, particularly those involving the character Nick Adams.