Another art crime has struck Durango. Aimee Kelly Martin purchased an oil painting featuring a puffin Nov. 22 from Studio & by artist Scott Dye.

The painting, which is 30 inches by 24 inches, is worth $700, Dye said in a phone interview from his new home in Portland, Oregon. Martin paid a slightly discounted price, Dye said, because she is a good friend and he was on the cusp of moving from Durango to Oregon.

Martin said that at 11:30 a.m. that day, she took her new painting to Durango Office Suites, 1099 Main Ave., where her husband has an office, and left it unattended for about half an hour.

When she returned, the painting had vanished.

“It’s my bad for being trusting,” Martin said. “But it was a Saturday, and there was about one person in the office. I’m not naming names. I just want my painting back.”

She said she loves the painting’s color, “and it was an amazing, really cool piece of Scott that I was going to get to keep when he moved away.”

Dye said this is the first time his art has been stolen. Asked whether the experience was in some sense flattering, he said, “no.”

“It’s upsetting,” he said. “Someone walked away with an artwork, and that’s theft. If they’ll return it, no questions asked – they don’t have to be afraid of jail time – I’d be happy, because it’s suppose to go to Aimee, its rightful owner.”

Martin said she had not yet filed a police report.

“I kind of just thought it would quietly show up again,” she said. “But I really should (contact police).”

cmcallister@durangoherald.com