The Launceston City Council has received $100,000 from insurers over the theft of a rare wool trophy topped with a 24-carat gold sheep.
The Ermenegildo Zegna Perpetual Trophy was stolen from the Tasmanian Wool Centre at Ross last December. It remains missing.
The payout appears in the council’s financial report for April 2026, which lists a $100,000 insurance recovery linked to the theft.
The trophy had been on loan since 2013 from the council-owned Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, where it was part of the gallery’s collection.
A thief broke into the museum on December 5, smashed the trophy’s glass case and fled with it in a smash-and-grab. Nothing else was taken.
The break-in was caught on CCTV. An anonymous Midlands woolgrower offered a $15,000 reward, but the trophy has not turned up.
Tasmanian sculptor Stephen Walker created the trophy, which marked the link between premium Tasmanian wool and Italian high fashion.
The award was presented to the best superfine merino fleece at the Midland Agricultural Association Show in Campbell Town from 1963 to 2008.
The Zegna recovery was one of several insurance payments listed in the report.
Others included a $48,000 settlement for Duck Reach Gorge and a $129,000 premium refund after UTAS Stadium passed to Stadiums Tasmania.
The council posted a year-to-date underlying surplus of $3.21 million to April 30. Its budget had forecast a surplus of $434,739.
