Dressed in dark clothing, a dark figure jumped on a wooden fence six feet tall, opening a cage of Star VII to release the country's most famous reindeer into a dark anchorage at 6:30 on February 20th.
The star was found roaming the city streets by members of the Anchorage Police Station later that night. However, the next night, a disguised figure visits the Starr's enclosure and sprays him with what his owner believed was an air freshener.
The Anchorage Starting Northern Me is legendary and serves as the city's informal mascot, playing an important role in parades, school field trips and cultural events. Like the Pope or the Dalai Lama, when one star dies, another is named.
Hours after Star VII was attacked with air purification, the reindeer became deeply ill and the Anchorage Police Department began an investigation into who tried to steal and harm the animal. No arrests have been made, and police have posted security camera footage of the assailant to get hints about the incident.
Albert Whitehead, 84, a retired tech entrepreneur and star caretaker, said he didn't know what the attacker looked like when poisoning the reindeer, but he had heard the attackers.
“Stop!” Whitehead cried out to the attacker.
“I'm trying to help the star,” the assailant appears to be unsure of Mr. Whitehead's promise that the officer is on the way. The police did not catch the mysterious sprayer.
The current star, Star VII, is an eight-year-old male reindeer. It is the second star under Mr. Whitehead's care.
Hours after the Star was sprayed, Whitehead was worried that he would have to name Star VIII in the coming weeks. Whitehead said he stopped eating and lost weight until the star was “nothing but skin and bones.”
The star was diagnosed with pneumonia. He became so sick that Mr. Whitehead considered defeating him and kicking him out of the misery. However, over the next few days, Star slowly began to recover. He currently gets shots from his local vet every two days, and his blood is regularly tested.
“He's still touching it and going,” Whitehead said.
It was also unclear whether the person who loosened the stars and the person who sprayed the stars were the same person. Anchorage police officials did not respond to calls seeking comment.
Police called the star's cage tampering with attempts to theft. I don't really understand Mr. Whitehead. He believed that anyone who changed the star's cage was trying to free the reindeer. But having reindeer leave the city alone on a winter night threatens that happiness, Whitehead said.
In the comments section of social media and Facebook group posts, Anchorage residents expressed disappointment at the suffering local legend.
“Sad someone is trying to hurt a poor star,” one commented. Another wrote a passionate plea: “Find criminals who keep messing around with the stars!!! The stars are so sweet that they wouldn't make them in the wild.”
Sheila McNeill Contributed research.
