Police in the south Germany are searching for a distinctive piece of stolen artwork known as the 'Holzpenis.' A phallic wooden statue, it was found erected on the mountain of Grünten in the German Allgäu a couple of years ago, and has disappeared under similarly mysterious circumstances.

Local newspaper Allgäuer Zeitung reported that the two-meter tall sculpture was taken by an unknown actor. All that was left was a sorry stump and some sawdust on the 1738 metre mountain, and little to pin any perpetrator to the scene.

On Monday, local police declared the phallic statue as missing. However they were unsure as to what criminal charges they might be able to press, should the thief be arrested.
"We don't know if the act carries any offence or not," a police spokesperson said. However the local police said they were probing the matter for any development's.

Although hardly a thing of beauty the Holzpenis was not without admirers.

The Holzpenis had become something of a landmark among hikers and mountaineers, who had covered the phallus with graffitos. The sculpture had been logged by Google Maps as a "cultural monument" and local brewery Benardi Brau had even named a draft after the phallic icon: "Grünten-Zipferl", local dialect for the "tip of mount Grünten".

Whether it was a crime or not, local sentiment was that they have been robbed of a characterful landmark and the plan to erect a new wooden phallus on the mountain has already been presented.

The incident comes as a tall, silver, shining metal monolith discovered in the desert in southeastern Utah - which prompted theories of alien placement and drew determined hikers to its secret location - has also disappeared, the state's Bureau of Land Management said Saturday.

The monolith was removed by an "unknown party" sometime Friday night, the agency said in a Facebook post.

"We have received credible reports that the illegally installed structure, referred to as the 'monolith,' has been removed" from BLM public lands, the post said.

"The BLM did not remove the structure, which is considered private property."

with text from CNN