$4,000 worth of koi fish missing from San Jose park
A school of roughly 50 koi fish worth $4,000 is missing from a San Jose public garden, city officials said Wednesday.
The fish were located at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Kelley Park in the Little Saigon neighborhood. The garden symbolizes San Jose’s sister-city friendship with Okayama, Japan that started in 1965.
“The City is heartbroken at the disappearance of these beautiful creatures,” a statement from the city’s Parks and Recreation Department said. “We will provide updates as we receive them.”
Spokesperson Daniel Lazo said the fish were first discovered missing inside one of the garden’s isolation pods at 8 a.m. on April 29 by a Parks and Recreation worker. A $1,500 pump was also stolen.
Koi fish have been stocked since 1966 in the garden, which is based on Korakuen Garden in Okayama. In 2009, more than 200 fish were wiped out by a virus.
The koi fish are the second piece of property stolen from the city that has been connected to a sister city. In February, this news organization found an Indian statue was taken from Guadalupe River Park. The statue was given to San Jose by its sister city in Pune, India.
This story is developing and will be updated.