Paolo Zampolli (Robert Miller)
The curious case of the missing, rare fiberglass tigers stolen from Paolo Zampolli’s Gramercy Park home still hasn’t been solved, but some suspect the valuable felines are being held captive in the wilds of New Jersey.
In December, 18 oversized tigers worth a total $635,000 painted by artists including Domingo Zapata, Peter Tunney, Rohan Marley and violinist Miri Ben-Ari were stolen from the Manhattan home of Zampolli, the founder of ID Models, who is now a real estate mogul. Zampolli was out of town at Art Basel in Miami at the time.
The audacious thief was caught on tape hauling the colorfully striped cats on a flatbed truck outside Zampolli’s pad, which was under renovation.
“The thief should be inside a cage with a real tiger — that’s where he deserves to be,” Zampolli told Page Six.
The highly collectable creatures were created for Zampolli’s Tiger Parade, a project inspired by the famed Cow Parade to raise awareness about tiger extinction. The art works were due to be auctioned, with proceeds benefiting Zampolli’s Global Tiger Fund.
But they are still missing. Law enforcement sources tell us they’re not yet talking to any “persons of interest,” but we’re told there is a suspect, a New Jersey resident, and police are proceeding with caution.
Some art insiders were speculating the perp might be a former associate of Zampolli’s who might have taken them hostage over a business deal gone bad. But Zampolli told us that’s not true: “I don’t owe anyone any money.”
Zampolli is producing more fiberglass felines to replace the stolen ones. We’re told the replacement tigers will be housed in a secure space in Jersey City owned by Milk Studios investor Moishe Mana.
About 75 tigers will be included in the Tiger Parade project, on display this spring at the United Nations — where Zampolli has diplomatic status for the Caribbean island nation of Dominica. He also intends to donate four of the tigers to the Kremlin.