Wax museum theft

DUBLIN— Josef Stalin, Adolf Hitler and Franklin D. Roosevelt are missing their clothes and Fred Flintstone and the Teletubbies are just plain missing after a raid on wax figures owned by Ireland’s National Wax Museum.

At least 50 figures were stolen or wrecked several weeks ago, the museum reported Monday. The wax museum, closed since 2005, has been storing its 400 figures in a warehouse while it works to reopen this fall.

Police say they suspect a door was left unlocked and the warehouse was used for an all-night rave party but museum officials discount that theory.

Also stripped of their clothes were Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle and rebel icons from Ireland’s war of independence with Britain, including Michael Collins and Padraig Pearse.

Most figures stolen came from the Children’s World of Fairy Tale and Fantasy section; others were taken from the Chamber of Horrors. Gone are Bob the Builder, Frankenstein’s monster, Fred Flintstone, Gollum from “Lord of the Rings,” a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, “Silence of the Lambs” killer Hannibal Lecter, and all four Teletubbies.

Guitars adorning the figures of U2’s The Edge and Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott also disappeared. Others, including Elvis and Madonna, suffered lost hair, limbs or jewelry.

The museum has been shut and searching for a home since 2005, when its run-down north Dublin base was razed to make way for a hotel. Dublin city officials vetoed one popular location, citing the wax museum’s lack of cultural merit.

Museum manager Kay Murray said Monday she expects to announce a new location and reopening plans next month, although she said she did not know where the money to fix all the damage would come from.

She estimated the uninsured loss at $1.4 million and said some clothing — particularly the authentic rebel uniforms — was irreplaceable.

The warehouse was ransacked in mid-June. Murray said she spoke out now because the national police force, the Garda Siochana, had not arrested any suspects. She said she doubted the police theory that partying youths had been responsible, because nobody had seen kids carrying away the wax figures.

“Whoever did it was looking for uniforms, because most of our uniforms were stolen,” Murray said, adding, “It’s not going to stop the museum reopening. It will just delay us.”