Precious stolen mere is recovered

A precious and priceless relic stolen from a tomb has been recovered through the combined efforts of police in South Taranaki and Waikato.

The greenstone mere, which belonging to the revered Maori peace prophet Te Whiti O Rongomai, was discovered missing last week from Parihaka Pa. Thieves had smashed through the glass casing which protected the mere within the tomb.

Sgt Jeremy Bull said: "We have had a team of officers working hard since the theft making area enquiries and we clearly rattled some cages as it resulted in a witness going to Melville Police Station in the Waikato and providing vital information."

Even though the crime had been committed in another district the Melville constable immediately recognised the significance of the theft that the witness was making reference to. She managed to extract vital information from the witness which she passed straight to Taranaki.

Iwi Liaison officer Sgt Warren Wipatene and Sgt Jeremy Bull followed up on the information and yesterday evening located the missing mere hidden in an area of bush in Opunake.

"It was an excellent community effort and I have to say a great big thank you to the people of the marae who spoke with us and put faith in us to recover the relic," said Sgt Bull. "We returned it last night to the elders in a small but deeply moving ceremony."

A middle-aged woman from Waikato is helping police with their enquiries but no arrests have yet been made.

"The investigation into the theft is still ongoing," said Sgt Bull. "The important thing is that we have managed to recover the mere undamaged and return it to where it belongs."