Stolen sperm whale skull mysteriously returned to Eden Killer Whale Museum

When Eden Killer Whale Museum collections manager Angela George received a door knock from local police in the morning of August 23, she was shocked to discover the skull had been returned.

"We were rapt to hear of its return obviously but it was almost as nonsensical as it being taken, because we can't fathom why it was taken back to the front of the block it had been stolen from," she said.

"We're so grateful that it has been returned but the whole episode is just bizarre."

Ms George said the skull seemed to have been deposited attached to a mattress at the front of the gate, which this time hadn't been broken into.

"It's odd because they obviously knew that it needed some kind of padding and support, but when they've unloaded it, it appears they simply tied the mattress to the fence and drove off," she said.

Ms George said the skull had been considerably damaged in the process of its removal and return, with many parts of it being broken and some missing.

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"The actual cranial part of the skull is still in one piece but the jaw section has been completely broken off, there's maybe a dozen other small pieces that are broken or missing as well," she said.

"We're not sure exactly what's missing and we won't know until we can find someone to inspect it properly."

Ms George said while it was unfortunate to see the skull returned in such a condition, she had been touched to see the level of community support.

"No matter how awful the entire situation is, there's always something positive that comes out of it and in this case the Andersons' strong sense of community in helping return the skull to us, was a classic example," she said.

Ms George said she had been thankful to local business owners Sylvia and Mick Anderson, from Anderson Cranes, who had taken it upon themselves to help transport the skull back to the museum within hours of its return.

"I'm sure they had other things on today but they came and did it during their lunch break as a favour to the museum, which was amazing of them," she said.

The 1.5 tonne skull was reported missing five months ago, when it had been stolen from the old Mobil site located on By Street, near the Eden lookout.

The skull had been stored there during the time that restoration works were underway at the museum.

Its disappearance had baffled the museum staff and local community, almost as much as the fact that no one saw it being taken at the time.

"The whole thing is really absurd, for the life of me I still can't understand why it was taken and I am also stumped in the way it was returned," Ms George said