Suspect takes off with iconic statue ‘Panadero’ from Arandas Bakery, business says

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A statue that for decades welcomed guests into the Arandas Bakery on Airline Drive no longer stands after someone ran off with it on Thanksgiving night, according to a statement from the business.

The incident happened at about 6:30 p.m. Nov. 23. A statement from the bakery read that the iconic statue, “Pandero,” sat on their property ever since its grand opening nearly 30 years ago.

Surveillance video released by Arandas shows a truck in the middle of the parking lot. A person is seen getting off, going to the statue, and running off with it.

According to the bakery, the alleged thief has reached out through a mediator, but “we can’t consider this matter resolved until we have our statue back.”

Arandas said they won’t involve police “as long as our baker comes home” by Dec. 1.

The bakery also released the following statement regarding the issue:

“We want to thank the Houston Community for sharing the social media post for our missing baker statue. The Baker Statue has no monetary value put for us it holds a deep sentimental value since it was place here by our founder Mr. Jose Camarena, who is no longer with us. Arandas Bakery has been here at Airline Drive for over 30 years and the “Panadero,” our iconic Baker Statue, was our first branding signage that was placed on our property. We are giving the person who stole this an opportunity to return the statue this week without involving police.”