Stolen Pinwheels Replaced in Wesley Chapel

Hundreds of shiny pinwheels honoring Child Abuse Prevention month that vanished from a Wesley Chapel highway recently have now been replaced.

The GFWC Pasco Junior Woman’s Club placed about 400 pinwheels on State Road 56 Easter Sunday. Yet, just three days later, half were gone.

“We had our permit number on our sign as required so I assume they were stolen,” project chairwoman Patricia Murphy said in a news release announcing the mysterious caper. 

But thanks to landowner Sierra Properties, Murphy said, the pinwheels have been replaced and are now attached to fence posts, making them harder to remove. The blue-and-silver spinners can be seen along State Road 56 from Wesley Chapel Boulevard to Interstate 75.

Murphy said the woman’s club raised $2,400 with the project. Money collected is going to support abused and neglected children who live locally as well as to the Ounce of Prevention fund’s parenting classes, Murphy said.

The project head still can’t understand why someone would want to steal the pinwheels in the first place, however.

“I stopped and spoke to the three construction crews working on State Road 56 and they all said the same thing, the pinwheels were there on Tuesday and gone when they came to work on Wednesday,” Murphy said in the release. “Even the fella that has the fruit stand couldn’t believe it.”

For more information about the project, visit GFWCPascoJuniors.wix.com/Welcome.

What do you think happened to the pinwheels?