A crime likely unprecedented in Northwestern’s 156 years of existence has hit campus: “gnomenapping.”

Travelocity’s two-foot tall, inanimate spokesperson – the Roaming Gnome – was delivered to the Transportation Center on Thursday. It sat in the lobby Thursday and Friday while Sabre Holdings, the company that operates Travelocity, held interviews in the center.

The Transportation Center, located in Chambers Hall at 600 Foster St., caters to students with an interest in transportation and logistics.

“People here went nuts,” said Diana Marek, assistant director of the Transportation Center. “We really wanted the gnome – we were just thrilled the gnome was in the building.”

The Roaming Gnome was snatched from the lobby of the Transportation Center as Northwestern alumnus and Sabre Airline Solutions employee John Graham, who received his master’s in science and transportation in 1998, conducted interviews with students on the main floor of the building.

Graham last remembers seeing the gnome around 11 a.m. When Marek came down to the lobby to help clean up around 12:30 p.m., she noticed that the gnome had “vanished.”

At around 3:20 p.m., University Police responded to the call placed by Marek earlier in the day. The crime was identified as a theft in the official police report. As of yet, there are no leads or suspects.

“Everybody was heartbroken,” Marek said. “We were hoping the gnome would stay at the Transportation Center forever.”

UP Cmdr. Darren P. Davis said he believes this is the first “gnomenapping” on NU’s campus. Davis said he had never heard of gnomes being stolen, but plans to do more research on the issue.

“You work at Northwestern for 25 years, you’ll always learn something new,” he said.

The premise of the traveling gnome was made popular in the 2001 film “Amelie,” when a girl steals a gnome from her father’s garden. Numerous ads made by Travelocity beginning in 2004 featured a gnome in locales around the world, as pictures of his travels were sent back to his owners.

The Roaming Gnome, which bears a resemblance to Santa Claus, has achieved a cult following. On his MySpace page, he boasts 14,342 friends. According to his account, The Roaming Gnome is 300 years old and, notwithstanding his British accent, hails from Durham, N.C.

Some NU students said they were intrigued by the Roaming Gnome.

“It would be awesome to have that gnome in my room – I’m not saying I would steal it though,” said Weinberg freshman Jason Karpf.

For those students who want to bring a piece of the Roaming Gnome back to their dorm room, authentic merchandise including travel mugs and red foam hats can be purchased at the Roaming Gnome’s own home page.

Despite the popularity and cultural phenomenon of “gnomenapping” in recent years, the staff at the Transportation Center said they are not happy with the recent turn of events. Staff members said they had looked forward to an opportunity to take the gnome home and take their own pictures with the mini-celebrity.

But Marek said she remains hopeful.

“So far, we have not been contacted for ransom, nor has (the gnome) tried to contact us,” she said. “But we are hopeful he will.”

Reach Jonathan Rosenblatt [email protected].