NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A life-sized statue of an American icon was serving as the mascot for Cool and Eclectic in Virginia Beach. Then on July 17, 2005, it was beheaded.

“When I came to work, she was in the next field over — headless,” recalled Larry Estes, owner of Cool and Eclectic. “And it’s remained headless ever since.”

Estes filed a police report, ready to prosecute for larceny. The massive watermelon of a head was valued at $2,000.

“I took a picture of her and I sent that to the press,” Estes explained. “And that became the first story on it, Cartoon Violence.”

Despite national attention and a reward from the grandson of the Betty Boop creators, no trace of her head or a suspect were found.

“It was shipped here from The Philippines, and they have apparently destroyed the mold, so I couldn’t get another head from them,” Estes said.

In spite of her extreme lack of expression, Headless Betty put smiles on faces for years. The statue survived the move to MacArthur Center, media coverage, cartoon strips and a makeover.

“I went ahead and did her as the Nike of Samothrace, the famous statue in the Louvre in Paris,” Estes said.

Sprouting the wings of an angel with papier-mâché force, her status is cemented as both a national treasure and local urban legend.

“I like Betty Boop because she has fashion sense,” said Shaneka Ogbomna, who was one of many to see the statue in person. “I’ve been a fan since I was little.”

For the 20th anniversary of her beheading, fans came to take their picture with the headless fashionista. They also went hunting through the store for hidden Betty Boop stickers. Those who manage to find one walked away with a piece of Betty.

“This is rebar that came from her neck, that’s the closest thing to her head,” Estes said.

Some have come up with their own theories about what exactly happened.

“It’s been gone for 20 years and it wasn’t destroyed at the scene,” Canyon Elliott said. “So I think that somebody took it home and put it like, above their bar in their garage. And every time they go drink a beer, they laugh about the head. Can you imagine someone just for 20 years, just laughing like, ‘haha, I got the head!'”

Whether the head is in a garage or a landfill, Estes has the last laugh, even if his Betty cannot boop-boop-a-doop.

Cool and Eclectic plans on continuing to give away prizes for the 20th anniversary throughout the next few days.