Petty theft or elaborate, meta-, uh, art something?

According to Reuters, police in St. Petersburg have tracked down Gogol's missing nose.
A giant 220 pound statue of a nose was erected years ago to commemorate Gogol's famous tale "The Nose" in which a government official searches desperately around the town in search of his errant nose.

Last September, the nose statue likewise went missing, and didn't turn up until last Friday.

An homage to Gogol, or a thoughtless vandalism? I suggest St. Petersburg residents remain on the lookout for any suspicious characters trying to purchase dead souls...