Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

The vandalized Hokie Bird.

Two Virginia Tech students have been charged with the theft of one of Blacksburg's famed Hokie Bird statues, many of which were targeted by vandals over the summer.

Someone called Blacksburg police just after 2 a.m. Sunday to report that the statue in front of Moog Components Group at 1213 N. Main St. was being vandalized, Lt. Joe Davis said.

While officers were on the way to Moog, the person called back to report that people had taken the statue into an apartment in the same block of North Main.

After investigating, officers arrested Matthew Alan Hanson, 21, and Michael Scott Russell, 20, Davis said. Both men are charged with grand larceny, felony destruction of property and obstructing an officer. Russell also faces a charge of underage possession of alcohol.

Both men are from Maryland. Each was released on $10,000 secured bond.

Davis didn't say where the statue, called "Motion Technology for Sea, Land, Air and Space," was found.

The fiberglass bird is painted with scenes of Moog's products -- motors, slip rings, fiber optic rotary joints -- in use. Ironto artist Phil Stevens said he was commissioned by Moog to design the bird, which took him about two months to complete. It is valued at $7,500.

The hollow statue was ripped off its base, leaving the feet attached to a metal pedestal. Stevens said he hasn't seen the damaged bird but thinks it will be difficult to repair.

A spokeswoman for Moog declined to comment on the theft, saying it was a police matter.

"It's sad to see the way art can be mistreated," said Stevens, who also said he wasn't surprised to hear Motion Technology had been stolen.

More than 60 statues were placed around downtown Blacksburg as part of the Blacksburg Partnership's Gobble de Art fundraising project. Many of them have since been sold and moved indoors.

At least a dozen of the statues were vandalized between July and early September, some so badly that they had to be removed for repair.

The Blacksburg Partnership has offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a person who has damaged or stolen a bird. Doug Juanarena, the partnership's vice president, said the person police said tipped them off Sunday morning could be eligible for that reward.