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UPDATE: SPIRITS are soaring at a Bendigo community radio station after a stolen bird bath was replaced by a kind-hearted listener.
A thief swooped on a bird bath belonging to Phoenix FM’s late president Geoff Morris, who died in 2013.
Family and friends were distressed the item had been taken from the radio station.
Then Phoenix FM listener Sue Alexander donated a bird bath to the station on Monday afternoon.
“We are really happy,” business manager Anne Conway said.
“And it’s so heavy, this bird bath - nobody’s going to tuck it under their arm and run away with it.”
Mr Morris, who was born blind, was president of the Central Victorian Community Broadcasters and held positions on the Institute for the Blind.
Bendigo Advertiser readers might also remember him for his relationship column.
Mr Morris worked as a counsellor.
His family donated his bird bath to Phoenix FM at the end of last year after hearing the station’s feathered friends were doing it tough during summer.
A volunteer noticed it was missing while at the station last week.
CCTV footage showed a woman making off with the heavy, concrete bird bath on April 22.
“We have named her the bird-brained thief,” Ms Conway said.
The woman was dressed in blue jeans and a black hoodie.
“The bird bath is not worth much money but its theft greatly upset Geoff’s daughters,” Ms Conway said.
She said the station’s members felt the same way.
Ms Conway said a steady stream of “bird customers” frequented Mr Morris’s bird bath.
“The presenters would often notice the birds on the CCTV whilst they were doing their programs and were often very gratified that we could do something to help our wildlife in harsh times,” she said.
It was gifted to Mr Morris by his family the Christmas before he died.
Mr Morris’s daughter Jane Radisich said she was angry and sad when she heard about the theft.
“But I think my dad would be having a bit of a giggle because we could hardly move it,” she said.
She said Phoenix FM had been the perfect home for the bird bath – a fusion of her father’s love for the station, and of birds.