Woman seeks return of parents’ honeymoon portrait

Among other items thieves took from Kate Budd’s storage space in her condo’s basement was a 40-year-old, hand-painted portrait of her parents — one she hopes to find before it’s destroyed.

Budd lives in the Esther Short neighborhood, near the Providence Academy building. Within the past few weeks, three out of four of the complex’s basement storage spaces have been broken into, she said.

She got home Sunday to find hers had been struck, too, and that the portrait of her parents, painted in 1972 on their honeymoon, was gone.

She contacted the police and put the word out on social media, she said, “thinking that whoever stole it would probably notice it was not worth anything and dump it.”

The thieves also took camping equipment, a tent, a cooler, tarps and the a leaf to a dining table.

Whoever took it might have thought the wood frame is worth something, she said, adding she hopes someone spots the painting in a trash bin or dumped on the side of road before it’s too damaged.

“It’s just the sentimental value, honestly, and it seemed like such an odd thing for someone to take,” she said. “It’s a cool picture, too.”