Reward offered for stolen 'Welcome to Flanders' sign featuring Big Duck

A week after it was taken, police are offering a cash reward for any information leading to an arrest in the most-unwelcome theft of a "Welcome to Flanders" sign featuring artwork of the historic Big Duck.

Suffolk County Police Crime Stoppers and Southampton Town Police announced the reward offer Friday, hoping to develop leads in their efforts to nab the person — or, persons — responsible for stealing the sign, which was taken in the overnight hours between Feb. 9 and 10.

The sign, which reads "Welcome to Flanders, Home of The Big Duck. Town of Southampton" and is adorned with art of the iconic ferrocement duck, was located alongside a shoulder area bordered by woods at the corner of County Road 104 and Pleasure Drive.

Flanders is famous for the Big Duck, a huge duck-shaped building built by Riverhead duck farmer Martin Maurer in 1931 to promote his duck and duck egg business. It was moved to Flanders in 1937, then later moved to a spot on Route 24 in the late 1980s. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997, before being returned to Flanders in 2007.

Radio station WBLI once called the Flanders Duck one of the seven wonders of Long Island.

Police are asking anyone with information on what happened to the sign to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS. Tipsters can also submit leads using a mobile app downloaded through the App Store or Google Play by searching P3 Tips, or by going online at www.P3Tips.com.

All calls, texts and emails will remain confidential and police said tipsters are eligible for a cash reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”