An advertising icon that had become a smiling staple of the West State Street skyline recently disappeared.
The Venue at North Gate had been using Venny, a 15-foot-tall inflatable tiger with a big smile, to market its luxury apartments, which still are being built.
Some of The Venue’s apartments will be ready this summer, and all are scheduled to be open by the fall semester.
Venny stood on the roof of The Venue’s management office in the The Hub at North Gate shopping center between Inga’s Subs and Salads and Saigon Vietnamese Cuisine.
Carlie Cresse, the Venue property manager, said she and her employees “have no idea” where Venny is, but they hope “he” returns from this “Spring Break” stint as soon as possible.
“Venny is missing, and we want him back,” she said. “We went up there to get him, to take [him] to the Living Expo, and he was gone.”
The Reveille sponsored the spring Living Expo, which featured area apartments marketed toward college students, March 29.
Cresse said Venny must have been stolen the previous weekend. The Venue will give a reward to anyone who brings Venny back.
Venue management will not file criminal charges, Cresse said.
“We’re not going to ask any questions,” she said.
LSUPD Maj. Ricky Adams said the The Hub at North Gate is not an official part of campus, so the incident falls under the jurisdiction of BRPD.
Adams said he had heard no reports of 15-foot blow-up tiger sightings on campus.
If someone has Venny, “he” probably is not very much fun at the moment because he cannot be used, Cresse said.
She said the “plugs” and “blower” that keep Venny inflated were left on the roof of The Venue’s management office.
Anyone with information about Venny’s location should contact Cresse at 381-2990.