A person who played a part in the disappearance of a bucket from the famous Cuba St bucket fountain in Wellington has apologised.
After being missing for months, the bucket was finally recovered on Tuesday, but with a new paint job. Now Wellingtonians are divided on whether the makeover should stay.
The fountain has been missing a bucket since October.
"It's not in its yellow form, it's been slightly altered, but it's been recovered," police said.
It was recovered after being spotted in a social media post.
"We handed it on to authorities, and they saw the light eventually - which I think might've been a blue and red flashing light," says Sam Rossiter-Stead, Wellington City Council spokesperson.
Despite the good news, Wellingtonians are divided over the modification.
"Keep it original I reckon, bring back the old one," one local said.
"The new version, even though that person was naughty and I'm not condoning it... now someone else can come and steal it and do something different," added another.
"If this was done properly, this is obviously some cheap coat of paint with some floral design at the back," a third person said.
Local designers believe the bucket should be restored to its former glory.
"You could keep the gold one somewhere different, and keep that story apart from the traditional bucket fountain," says Jane Baxter of Abstract Design.
"That would be fantastic. Yellow please, keep it yellow - back to how it was."
And that's what the council is doing.
"We'll be restoring it back to its natural yellow as soon as possible," says Rossiter-Stead.
Newshub has spoken with someone who says they took the bucket after a night out on the town. They've apologised and say they had every intention of returning it, but couldn't find the right time and were concerned if they did bring it back someone else would pinch it.
People are being asked to not commit a copycat act.
"Go along and have a look - but keep your hands to yourself and just enjoy getting moist," says Rossiter-Stead.
Wherever that may be in your bucket list.
