Police search for owner of expensive watch left in tree by magpie

Police in New Zealand are looking for the owner of a NZ$13,550 (£5,950, US$9,125) watch that appears to have been stolen by a magpie in Central Otago.




A police spokesman said a family in Cromwell was out walking on Monday when they saw a magpie flying from a tree then noticed something shiny hanging from a branch. "As they walked up to the tree they found a $13,550 watch just hanging on one of the branches.

"They've then collected it and brought it into the Cromwell police station," the spokesman said. The watch turned out to be a TAG Heuer Monaco Calibre 36 Automatic Chronograph. "We're not sure how it got into the tree, but the magpie would appear to have something to do with it," the spokesman said.




He said an internal memo had been sent to police stations in case there had been reports of lost property matching the watch. As yet the watch's owner has not been found. "We'd like to return the watch to the owner and probably advise them to keep it away from magpies. It's an extremely unusual story," he said.