COUPEVILLE — The artwork stolen from Penn Cove Gallery in a break-in earlier this month hasn’t been found.

But the gallery survived the heist, thanks to the generosity and kindness from the public.

“The community support has just been tremendous,” said Gary Leake, board president at Penn Cove. “It’s kind of surprising that so many people are aware of this, and that they care.”

The Coupeville artist cooperative is inviting everyone to a “We-Survived-the-Heist” party Saturday as a way to thank the community.

Penn Cove suffered a tremendous loss: About 200 pieces of jewelry, pottery, carved American Indian pieces, wooden bowls, woven scarves and baskets were taken from nine of the 27 artists showing here.

Someone broke in to the gallery late on Aug. 2 or early Aug. 3 and stole $25,000 worth of artwork. Five other businesses were hit that night.

At Big Rock Designs, the thief or thieves took graphic designer Carol Moliter’s computer, some blank checks and $15 in cash. Oddly, the contents of her drawers had been dumped neatly into the wastebasket.

At Sally’s Garden, the alarm went off and alerted the police when the glass door was broken, said Sally Clifton, the owner of the nursery and gift shop.

“We were very fortunate. Other businesses downtown weren’t as fortunate,” she said.

Toy shop Honey Bear, Beyond the Sea and Coupeville Florist also were hit.

The burglaries shocked the small community of Coupeville.

People offered words of encouragement — and their shopping dollars — to help the businesses get through.

Artists throughout the Pacific Northwest have been circulating photos of pieces stolen from Penn Cove in hopes that someone will recognize them and help catch the thieves.

“That’s our best hope, that they will find these folks and perhaps get some of the treasured pieces back,” Leake said.

Support the artists

People from the community are invited to stop by Penn Cove Gallery until 7 p.m. Saturday. There will be live music. The gallery is at 9 NW Front St., Coupeville. For more information, visit www.penncovegallery.com or call 360-678-1176. See photos of stolen artwork at bit.ly/PennCoveArt.