Gordon the gorilla was created out of scrap metal, and owner Joni Goode worries that her front-yard sculpture will become just a pile of scrap once again if drug addicts have turned his rusty hide into cash.

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Joni Goode wants her 300-pound gorilla back.

By Goode's best guess, sometime on Monday while she was out of town, her scrap-metal gorilla sculpture was stolen from her front yard in the Frontier Village Neighborhood, which is bordered by North Alvernon Way, East Grant Road, North Columbus Boulevard and East Pima Street.

A neighbor, Lu Frese, said she drove past the house on North Justin Lane early Tuesday and knew something was wrong but couldn't put her finger on what was different.

When she went for a walk on Wednesday, Frese realized it was the missing gorilla.

"That's how I know her house is there, is from the gorilla," Frese said. She immediately went home and called Goode, who arrived home hours later.

The gorilla, affectionately nicknamed "Gordon," was a Christmas gift to Goode 12 years ago from her husband, Jerry Kelly. Goode estimated Gordon's worth at about $3,500.

The beast occupied the same spot on Goode's lawn for all 12 years, she said. He's about 3 feet tall and 4 feet long.

"I really miss seeing him out there," she said.

Kelly got a friend to make the gorilla for Goode after she admired a similar sculpture in a local furniture store.

Frese said Gordon was a neighborhood landmark, and neighbors miss him as well.

"This is a big thing," Frese said. "This is Gordon, the 300-plus-pound gorilla. I don't know who could have done it. We're hoping that someone sees him somewhere and brings him back."

Sgt. Mark Robinson of the Tucson Police Department said it's common for metal to be stolen in the Tucson area and sold to scrap yards.

Goode's best bet is to send pictures of Gordon to local scrap yards, Robinson said.

Sometimes the thefts are the work of methamphetamine addicts, but not always, he said. It could also be a prank, although "normally a prank is not meant to be malicious in the way that metal theft is. And the item usually surfaces quickly in an unlikely location."

A self-described "primate nut," Goode said that if given the choice, she would rather see Gordon mysteriously reappear than press charges against whoever took him.