byJenny Morrill
If you own a garden dwarf , you ’d well keep a close eye on it , as in late old age these garden dwellers have developed a reputation for going AWOL .
The exercise , known as " gnoming , " involves " borrow " a garden gnome from a nearby resident and take it on holiday , sending photographs to the owner of their dwarf in various exotic locations ( or maybe just at the local taphouse if finances are a snatch tight ) . Crucially , it is an unwritten rule that the dwarf isalwaysreunited with its owner after its adventures .
The first record incident of gnoming was in 1986 . A garden gnome in Sydney , Australia was slip and the crime reported toTheSydney Morning Herald . The Gnome , christened Bilbo by its captors , was state to have left a notation : “ Dear mom , could n’t stand the purdah any longer . Gone off to see the world . Do n’t be disturbed , I ’ll be back soon . Love Bilbo . "
Back in 2008 , a U.K. gnome namedMurphytraveled to 12 unlike land ; his owner , Eve Stuart - Kelso , was stunned to receive pictures of Murphy rappelling , swim , and riding a bike .
Arguably the most high - visibility journey gnome was Gnome Severson , who was taken from a garden in Redmond , Washington and give a gratis slip through California and Las Vegas . On his travels , Gnome Severson was photographed with the the likes of of Paris Hilton , and was even featured inPeoplemagazine . When he was reunited with his possessor , Marianne Severson , the dyad madenational news , and were interview onGood Morning America .
In France during the belated 1990s , a group known as le Front pour la Libération des Nains de Jardin ( rendering : The Garden Gnome Liberation Front ) was creditworthy for stealing at least 150 gnomes , debate that gnomes deserved exemption , and hoi polloi did not have the right wing to own them . Perhaps their strangest human action was the " mass felo-de-se " of 11 gnomes in 1998 ; residents of Briey in northeasterly France woke to ascertain the gnomes hanging from tree diagram . Again , a annotation was found : " When you read these few word we will no longer be part of your selfish human beings , where we suffice merely as pretty decorations . ”
However , most incidence of gnoming are comparatively harmless , and involve nothing more than personate for a few holiday ginger nut . So if you own a garden gnome and find him missing one sidereal day , you might want to hold back for a postcard before calling the police .
