PORTLAND, Ore. -- Well shiver me timbers! He's back.

KGW photo

KGW reporter Keely Chalmers and the recovered pirate statue.

A 6-foot-2 pirate statue stolen from a Portland marina several days ago mysteriously reappeared Wednesday morning.

About 11 a.m. Wednesday, someone left Jack Whitmore, owner of Big Eddy Marina, a voicemail saying the pirate was on its way back. The caller did not identify himself or inquire about the $300 reward.

"We thought we’d never see him again,” Whitmore said. "We‘re happy to have him back. I think everyone at the marina will be happy when they see the pirate sitting at the bottom of the ramp."

Photo: Full-size picture of statue

Whitmore said the anonymous caller returned the statue while he was at the dentist later Wednesday morning. It was in the parking lot when he got back and appeared to be unharmed.

So who took the pirate and why?

The man who returned the statue spoke to KGW outside the marina, insisting he had nothing whatsoever to do with the theft.

"I believe it was a Saturday night boys' bet," he said. The man declined to give his name. "I'm not part of it. I just returned it as a favor for a friend."

Asked if his friends were concerned about the amount of media attention the theft had received, he said they were "freaking out."

Whitmore had suspected as much.

"We turned out a police report and enough information got out that somebody probably thought, 'You know, there's no way I can hide this and I can’t sell it on the street because it's not made of metal," Whitmore said. "The statue has no monetary street value, so I figured it might have been a practical joke."

The owners of the Big Eddy Marina, located in the 19600 block of NE Marine Drive, have been renting the statue for the last few years to celebrate their annual “Big Eddy Days”.

The brightly colored statue had been placed on the dock at the bottom of a ramp as a decoration for the pirate-themed festivities. It was stolen between 12:30 and 1:30 a.m. on Sunday.

Now the pirate will spend his nights indoors.

Aaaarrrrgggghhhh.

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