For 63 years, Petalumans have left Pronzini Farms with Christmas trees secured to their cars. For 11, they’ve carried away armloads of pumpkins. 

But sometime in late March, months removed from the tractor rides and mega slides of the holiday season, someone made off with something they shouldn’t. 

A shipment of about two dozen light-gauge steel sculptures made by Mexican artisans was waiting in the parking lot off Adobe Road for placement in the field out front, already home to an array of full-size metal horses, cowboys, stagecoaches, and animal figures.

After some rain the field was too wet to set up the sculptures, so there they sat, unattended, said Jon Pronzini, who started the family business as a 20-year-old in 1963.

“It was a whole semi load of stuff,” he said. “When we start counting heads, we're missing five items. You wouldn't have known they were missing unless you actually went over there, because they were hidden by the larger items.”

Unaccounted for were two sitting cowboys (one meant to sit atop a horse, the other a stagecoach); one standing baby horse; one owl; and one eagle holding a fish. 

The theft occurred sometime between March 21 and April 1, likely overnight, Pronzini said. “They had to have had a van or a pickup and a trailer to get it all.”

Pronzini buys and displays the sculptures mostly for the love of it. “Because it’s unique,” he said, “and you know, with our theme, the ranch, and everything, it all ties in. It’s basically all horse stuff.” (Plus a chicken, an elephant, a deer, a triceratops, a pegasus, and a couple other one-offs.)

Passersby are often charmed by the display, Pronzini said, pulling into the parking lot or hopping the fence to get a closer look and a photo. He doesn’t mind – that’s the whole idea. “It’s for the public, it’s for the kids to see,” he said. 

The farm’s original statement art piece, an old Volkswagen Beetle reimagined as some spider-ladybug hybrid – “We made that ourselves,” Pronzini said – is now obscured by the growing gallery of metal sculptures, all of which are also for sale. 

“We sell it, but we don’t make it a point to sell it,” Pronzini said. Stuck in the ground in front of the chicken, an inconspicuous handmade wooden sign reads, “For sale / Call Jon Pronzini / Hecho en Mexico,” with his cell phone number below.

He estimates the stolen pieces were worth about $3,000. Melted down, they’d be worth much less. 

Sergeant Juan Valencia with the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Pronzini reported the theft on April 6. Investigators have since chased down a couple leads, including a similar-looking sculpture being towed behind a truck in a trailer, but both were ruled out. 

For now, the case is cold. 

The Pronzini family is offering a $500 reward for information leading to the sculptures’ return.

And the parking lot has been equipped with security cameras.