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Montgomery County Police are currently investigating the mysterious disappearance of a poem from downtown Bethesda. The poem, four to five feet in width and between 12 and 18 inches in height, disappeared from the back of a bench on the corner of Woodmont Avenue and Elm Street the night of Feb. 13.

None of the other 19 Bethesda Circulator "art benches" —each hand-carved and etched with verses of poetry — have heard from or seen the bench since.

According to Montgomery County Police, the bench was stolen on Feb. 13. The seat and posts remained, but the artisanal, hand-carved, lacquered seat-back was gone.

"We as the police department have no idea if this was malicious vandalism, to destroy the property, or if someone perceived this as something of value and took it," Police spokeswoman Lucille Baur said. "We just don't know."

The benches were first installed in November 2002 as a joint effort of Bethesda Transportation Solutions—now part of the Bethesda Urban Partnership, a group dedicated to the promotion and maintenance of downtown Bethesda—and state and county groups to make people more aware of the free trolley and bring public art to downtown Bethesda.

Each of the 20 benches is inscribed with a selection of poetry written by a Montgomery County resident.

"We just appreciate them," BUP Executive Director David Dabney said of the benches. "They have been very well-received, and have gained some notoriety for the project itself, not just the Circulator."

The bench project earned a Creative Excellence Award from the Association for Commuter Transportation International in 2004. The award recognized organizations that implemented innovative and original transportation programs.

And as if losing one bench wasn't enough for BUP to handle, this is the third bench that has gone missing in the past two years, Dabney said. The others missing benches were situated along Arlington Road near the Bethesda Library, and at the corner of Woodmont Avenue and Old Georgetown Road. The two benches were never found, and have since been replaced at a cost of $2,500 each.

"These things are going somewhere," Dabney said. "We're waiting for some kids to walk into their houses and say, ‘Hey mom, look what I made.'"

The artist who created the benches, Takoma Park's Bodil Meleney, said the theft is a sort of backhanded compliment.

"At least they're not being vandalized and destroyed, and it means someone likes my work," she said. "… as much as it is really sad to me, it's of course more infuriating for BUP who has to have these replaced."

Meleney said each bench is made out of Spanish cedar, which she has to special order. She brushes 15 separate layers of coating onto the wood to ensure the design doesn't fade, crack or run. Completing the coatings alone can take up to three and a half weeks, she said. All told, a new bench for the corner of Woodmont Avenue and Elm Street may not be ready until mid-May, she said.

Baur said police aren't sure how the bench backs were removed. Photos taken by police show virtually no damage done to the seat and posts that remained.

"The project has received a lot of attention, and we're just a little concerned that this might keep happening," Dabney said.

Anyone with information about the thefts should contact Montgomery County Police at 301-657-0112.