A few days before fall exams started the Primrose Hall Sundial was stolen from its pedestal.  Someone, still unknown, unscrewed it sometime after the end-of-the-semester Hillsborough Hike.  It was returned the next day, Dec. 8, to its stone pedestal with few damages and is currently being repaired.

According to Ralph Recchie, director of real estate, the sundial was not returned to police but rather placed back on the stone from which it was removed.

“When it was first stolen, we thought someone might have wanted it for its scrap metal value, but when it was returned we assumed it was someone who had been souvenir hunting,” Recchie said.

“The gnomon was stolen last May before graduation and we had a new one fabricated. But had the sundial not been returned this time it would have been unfortunate for many reasons: expense of the actual sundial, cost to remake it and loss of artifact important to N.C. State’s history,” he said.

The Primrose Hall Sundial and stone pedestal were gifts from the class of 1913, funded by class graduate Charles Parks for whom Parks Shops is named.

Ryan Thomann, a sophomore in chemistry, makes daily walks to Clark Dining Hall from North Residence Hall and noticed the sundial was missing. 

“I was walking to Clark from North sometime after Thanksgiving Break and noticed that the Primrose Hall Sundial was missing.  I also noticed other various acts of vandalism that occurred around the same time in the same area, which also happened to be after the Hillsborough Hike,” he said. “Using my not inconsiderable powers of observation I deduced that inebriated students were the probable perpetrators of the atrocious acts of disrespect.”

Recchie also said that he was disappointed that someone took the sundial.

“Someone was willing to take away a piece of N.C. State’s history, which was a selfish act considering the group act of giving it was selfless,” he said. “How the seniors leave the University is how the next generations see it.”

Charles Sadler, a senior in electrical engineering, said he considered the act disrespectful.

“Why would you want to steal the Primrose Hall Sundial? It defaces the school and it’s disrespectful, not only to the University but to future generations to come,” Sadler said. “I’m glad they returned it though; it’s a significant part of our school.”

During early December, seniors tagged all senior gifts recorded dating back to the sundial and left the note: “They left their mark, how will you leave yours?”

The sundial has not been reinstalled yet but will be upon being repaired and according to Recchie, the sundial will not be as easy to remove once installed.