Cherry Daly with a photo of her mother Gwen Daly and the Mick Griffin Memorial Trophy, named in honour of her axeman grandfather. Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf
Two more people have been arrested following the theft of a precious trophy described as a who's who of New Zealand woodchopping history.
The Mick Griffin Memorial Trophy was made in 1966 in honour of one of Northland's great axemen, and had been won by the late world champion Jason Wynyard, the legendary Innes Davidson, and more recently Jack Jordan.
Their names are inscribed on a series of 24 gold plaques, each in the shape of an axe head, around the base.
The trophy had been valued at $130,000 due largely to the gold.
However, Griffin's granddaughter Cherry Daly said it was priceless to the family and to New Zealand's woodchopping community.
It had been well hidden in her home until one night last November, when it was carried off by intruders who somehow knew its location.
The offenders also took Daly's car, which was recovered a few days later.
Manawa Hepi, 33, was quickly identified from CCTV images and sentenced for her part in the burglary earlier this month.
The trophy, however, was not immediately recovered.
Daly feared the thieves had melted down the plaques and discarded the rest.
She had all but given up hope of seeing the trophy again when it was quietly returned to her home, still intact, and found a few weeks before Hepi's sentencing.
Now two men have also been arrested in relation to the theft, after police carried out a series of searches around the Whangārei District.
Nicky Lemon, 32, of Whangārei, and Nadyn Henry-Hawira, 29, of Whananaki, appeared in the Whangārei District Court on 15 September charged with burglary.
Lemon was remanded in custody while Henry-Hawira was granted bail.
Both are due back in court on 28 October.
Daly said the trophy had become too valuable to keep at home so it had been replaced by a replica.
The family would continue displaying the replica at major woodchopping events around Northland.
Hepi had already served eight months behind bars and was sentenced to 12 months' intensive supervision and six months' community detention, and also ordered to pay reparation to her victims.
Griffin competed from the early 1900s to 1935 and at one point held a woodchopping world record.
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