NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — A carnival krewe is getting ready to roll again after its handcrafted tricycles were stolen. However, it’s taking a lot of extra work and money.
Members of the Krewe of Kolossos are making sure that their trikes don’t get stolen again.
The Krewe of Kolossos is rushing to re-create the art on its stolen trikes.
“I’ve been painting a lot lately,” said Captain of the Krewe of Kolossos Katrina Brees.
They are extra busy this carnival season out of necessity.
“It has been a lot of extra effort,” she said.
Five of the krewe’s trikes that make up its “art bike zoo” were stolen in November at the Bywater Art Lofts.
“It was pretty devastating emotionally. It was hard to come out of it. It was a sad time,” she said.
The trikes are handcrafted with paper-mâché from old newspapers, flyers, cardboard and plastic bottles. The animal art takes about 50-100 hours to sculpt.
“A real labor of love. This is our ‘trike-ceratops.’ Unfortunately, it was dismembered. Most of the pieces had to be remade,” Brees said.
Brees said all of this has been a learning lesson.
“In addition to buying very strong bike locks, I’ve made sure to record all the serial numbers of the bikes. When the bikes were stolen and the police asked me for the serial numbers, I didn’t know them,” she said.
The Krewe of Kolossos has also purchased eight cameras surrounding the animal bikes, so this won’t happen again.
Brees said, “I’ve also made a huge effort to get to know all my neighbors. It has definitely been a recommitment to the krewe, to pull it all together this year.”
No arrests have been made in this case.
Donations can be made to the krewe through a GoFundMe.
Krewe of Kolossos will roll with the Krewe of Mad Hatters in Metairie, the Krewe of Muses and the Krewe of Tucks on the Uptown parade route.
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