Dognappers return bronze dog to New York hotelNEW YORK (CNN) -- Ophie, one of two Great Dane statues that guarded the lobby of New York's Soho Grand Hotel, was dropped off at the hotel's back entrance late Thursday night. The 50-pound (22-kilogram) bronze Great Dane was snatched in the pre-dawn hours of Saturday, March 7, by two "dognappers" who were seen by the hotel's security camera. Ophie, valued at $30,000, has been dusted for prints and was returned to a perch near its companion "Mona." Hotel officials said it was apparently taken as a drunken prank. The Soho Grand went all out to get it back, placing a full-page ad in a local paper offering a $5,000 reward for help in its return. The New York Police and FBI were also called in to help find the "hot" dog. A man called hotel security Thursday, offering to return Ophie in exchange for a promise of no serious penalties. Although he agreed to drop it off at midnight, he arrived an hour early, allowing him to elude capture. Security officers gave chase but the man escaped in a getaway car. Ophie was found wedged in a back doorway, covered by a brown blanket. Ophie and Mona have now been fitted with alarms to discourage future dognappers. 
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