LONG ISLAND CITY — Transform and roll out — into the hands of a thief.
A Queens artist says someone swiped a heavy, 6-foot-tall sculpture of a "Transformers" head from in front of her studio over the summer, and she's yet to locate the purloined work of art.
Annalisa Iadicicco, who creates art from reclaimed materials, said the hulking sculpture — which she crafted from discarded car bumpers for an educational kids workshop — was displayed in front of her studio in Court Square, latched to her door with a chain.
She went out for about three hours on Aug. 31, she says, only to return around 8:30 p.m. to find the piece had mysteriously vanished.
"I came back home and it wasn't there anymore," said the artist, adding that while the sculpture was attached to her door, it wasn't locked up.
"I would never think that somebody would take it — it was very big," she said. "It was a little taller than me. It was human-sized."
The Queens Courier first reported on the stolen statue.
Iadicicco says she made the piece for an art workshop for kids in July, part of an event in Jamaica, Queens, hosted by art group Local Project, Citizens Committee for NYC and No Longer Empty.
The sculpture was made from old car bumpers, bolts, plastic and cloth, and depicts the head of a Transformer — the alien-robot characters from the famous toy line that spawned a cartoon and blockbuster film franchise.
After the workshop, she decided to display it outside her art studio during the day, where it got a positive response from neighbors.
"Everybody was taking pictures and smiling," she said.
She hypothesizes that whoever took it must have had a van or other vehicle because of the sculpture's size — it was 6 feet tall and and more than 5 feet wide, and heavy enough that two people were needed to carry it, she said.
"Nobody would take something like that," she said. "I was really shocked."
Though she asked around in the neighborhood, she's yet to get any leads.
Iadicicco says she notified the 108th Precinct about the theft, though NYPD's press office says they had no information on the incident.
Anyone with information about the Autobot's whereabouts can email her at info@annalisaiadicicco.com.
