The life size bronze statue was valued at $80,000 dollars.

FOX News reports.

Thieves swipe life-size bronze statue of famous UC Berkeley coach

A statue of “significant symbolic and sentimental value” was swiped this week from the University of California Berkeley boathouse.

The bronze statue is a 300-pound, life-size depiction of one of the giants of rowing, Carroll Ebright, who coached Cal crew from the early 1900s all the way to the 1950s, KRON-TV reported.

“He coached Cal to three Olympic gold medals, so he’s a huge figure in the Bay area and the sport of rowing itself,” UC Berkeley rowing alum Cole Reiser told the station.

“The statue is really important to our community and our rowing alumni base,” he said. “We’re pretty upset that it’s missing.”

Detective Jack Kelly told FoxNews.com Friday that investigators have issued an appeal to the public for assistance in solving the crime.

The statue, valued at $80,000, “was funded by Cal alumni donations and has significant symbolic and sentimental value,” the UC Berkeley Police Department said.