Giant Stolen Rooster Statue Replaced With Donation Money

A 4-foot-tall Rooster statue stolen from Bristow mailbox has been replaced by not one—but two—new rooster statues purchased with donated money from Prince William County dwellers.

The beloved metal Rooster, that changed colors with the season and the holiday as it sat perched on its Nokesville Road mailbox was stolen in mid-July, said Leanne Dronet, the rooster's owner.

Her family tried to gather the money on their own to replace the rooster, but had trouble doing so.

She then "hatched" a plan to get her rooster back or raise enough money for a replacement through a Facebook page and an IndieGoGo page set up for the cause.

"We had raised some money from the boys' lemonade stand and some yard sale money, but it wasn't enough to secure him. Then a large donation came through that was more than enough to buy the replacements and secure them," she said.

Anyone who donated $40 or more received the perk of painting the new roosters, plus a dozen eggs from the Dronet family chickens and a picture.

Three sets of donors qualified to paint the new roosters—a writer with the PWC Scanner Bums blog and his children were the first to paint the rooster because they were one of the first to donate, Dronet said.

A woman who drove by the stolen rooster each day will be the next to paint the new ones.

The donor who donated the large sum of money will be the last to paint, Dronet said.

"He (the large sum donor) and I thought that we should have him paint it around Nov 3 as he wants to paint it for the (Washington) Redskins and I'm a San Diego Charger fan, so I'll paint the other one for the Chargers, and they play against each other on Nov. 3rd, Dronet said.

Dronet and her family still hope to see their old rooster again and are still offering a reward for anyone who finds it.