Theft of prized 'ukulele grieves school
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer
More than two weeks after thieves made off with nearly a dozen valuable Kamaka 'ukulele at Hale'iwa Elementary School, the Honolulu Police Department is continuing its probe of the burglary.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
But so far no arrests have been made and police say they have no suspects.
Kupuna Dorothy Awai holds one of three koa wood 'ukulele that weren't stolen from Hale'iwa Elementary.
The first reaction at the school after 11 koa wood instruments — some of them 20 to 30 years old — were stolen on July 5 was shock that the thieves showed such a lack of aloha.
"It broke our hearts," said student services coordinator Pam Jason. "They are not stealing from the school, they're stealing from the kids. And they did it in broad daylight."
The second reaction to the brazen burglary, which wiped out all but three of the school's Kamaka 'ukulele, was how fast the heist occurred.
"I heard the alarm go off at Building I," said custodian Vicente Sistoso. "I was in the parking lot in front. It was about 4:45 in the afternoon and I went right to the building. And when I got there they were gone already."
Sistoso says the thieves broke into the building's Room 2 by climbing to the roof and breaking out overhead window louvers. They were apparently in and out so fast that Sistoso says he didn't realize anything had been stolen.
It wasn't known that the instruments, which were made by Hawai'i's oldest and most venerated 'ukulele manufacturer, were missing until Hawaiian studies teacher Dorothy Awai, known as Auntie Kanani, arrived the next day.
"When I came in on Saturday I realized they were gone," said Awai, who has been teaching 'ukulele at the school for 17 years. "They were treasures. I had been placing them in boxes for storage. The strange thing is they didn't take the boxes. They took 11 individual 'ukulele and 13 cases."
Awai says three of the school's Kamakas — which are highly prized among 'ukulele aficionados — were spared because they were in storage. Although electric keyboards and autoharps were also in the room at the time, she said nothing but the small, 4-string instruments were taken.
Awai said it appeared that the thieves at first tried and failed to break open a solid sliding rear door leading to the room. Then they scaled an outside wall leading to the louvered windows above the sliding door. A footprint was still visible on the wall leading to the roof.
Because the theft occurred so quickly, Sistoso and others believe it could not have been committed by one person.
"They knew exactly what they were looking for and where they were," said secretary Claire Park.
Some, including Awai, suspect the burglary may have been committed by students or older siblings of students who knew where the instruments were kept. The 'ukulele and their cases were marked and etched with identifying numbers that would make them hard to sell.
According to Neil Shimabukuro of Island Guitars, most pawn shops and used instrument dealers in Hawai'i would be suspicious of instruments with sanding marks. Still, with the recent resurgence in popularity of koa 'ukulele, "they might be easy to sell on the street" at a greatly reduced price, he said.
Shimabukuro said only Kamaka 'ukulele made in the 1920s and '30s bring high collector prices in the four figures. Still, he said at around $500 apiece, cases included, it would cost more than $5,000 to replace the school's missing 'ukulele.
Awai says she hasn't given up hope of finding the Kamakas:
"I just hope whoever buys them will realize that these are the instruments that belong to the kids."
Anyone with information is asked to call the Wahiawa police station at 621-8442.
