Life-size dugong statue stolen again

Police are searching for a life-sized bronze dugong stolen from outside a north Queensland home for the second time.

The 700kg statue is valued at almost $90,000 and first went missing in February last year.

It was found in a state forest by a hiker a few days later and returned.

However, the dugong has this week disappeared again under mysterious circumstances.

Innisfail Senior Constable Scott Hayes says the weight of the statue means the thieves would have had to use special lifting equipment.

"Realistically, you would be looking at some sort of crane to put it on the back of a truck or something," he told the Townsville Bulletin.

"It's pretty unusual ... it's not something you could pull out in the pool room and no one would notice."

Another police spokesman told AAP the hunt was on to find bring the dugong home.

"We will of course have detectives scouring the state forest to see if they can find anything that smells fishy," he said.