Shear nerve - franchise lawyer fleeced in ram raid

News update 18 October - The giant sheep sculpture stolen from franchise lawyer Stewart Germann has turned up abandoned in a garden further down the street after the thieves made a ewe-turn following Stewart's appearance on Seven Sharp last night.

Stewart Germann is asking people to look out for a giant sheep that went missing from his garden on Wednesday night. The sheep, which stands 1.5 metres tall and would take three men to lift, was one of 20 produced for an art trail as part of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. 

Painted in a Kiwiana theme, the sheep was bought by Stewart and his wife Janice at a charity auction after the Cup ended, and has become something of a local landmark in St Heliers. Named Barbara (Baaa-bara, get it?), the sheep is also a favourite with their seven grandchildren.

Stewart is bemused (or should that be bem-ewe-sed?) by the theft, which also made the pages of the New Zealand Herald. ‘The thieves would have had to jump our high rock fence, see the control box for our electric gates and push the button to open them. At least three men would be required to lift the sheep as she was heavy, load her on to a trailer or open truck and drive off. They even shut the gates before they left. We were asleep in the front bedroom and heard nothing.’

‘It was there last night when I came home, and when I woke up this morning, it wasn’t. Who would do something like this? And where has Barbara gone?’

It’s causing the lawyer a few sheepless nights.

Stewart Germann contributed the legal review in the latest issue of Franchise New Zealand – read it here.