Hawaiian altar and
other valuables stolen from
bay-front park in Hilo

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By Rod Thompson
Star-Bulletin

HILO >> After three months of trying to solve the crime themselves, police are asking the public to help them identify who removed a Hawaiian altar consisting of 1,500 pounds of stones from the base of the Kamehameha statue in Hilo's bay-front park.

The 4-foot-by-4-foot altar, built by the Royal Order of Kamehameha, was removed sometime between Jan. 10 and Jan. 12, said Officer Greg Ikeda.

A member of the order told police that gold jewelry, jade items and cash left at the altar also were stolen.

Order member Genesis Lee Loy said the altar was built toward the end of last year when the University of Hawaii was considering new observatory proposals for Mauna Kea. The order opposes more telescopes. The altar was built as a means of protecting people who went up on Mauna Kea, he said.

Lee Loy said he did not help build the altar, but he did periodically clean it and remove offerings such as awa, ti, koa and food items.

Paul Neves, another member of the order, said more valuable offerings were placed in a hole that was covered by one of the stones.

The Kamehameha statue is on state land, and the order built the altar without permission, Lee Loy said. But members checked with the Department of Land and Natural Resources, which said its workers did not remove it. The order was founded by Kamehameha V in the mid-1800s in honor of Kamehameha I.

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Hawaii County