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Since You Asked: It's been a hard day's night for guitar owner Friday Jan 19, 2018 at 12:01 AM I'm wondering what happened to the stolen Beatles guitar that was taken from a downtown Medford office. I know there were security photos of the thief riding away on a bicycle, but I haven't heard or seen any more.  Do your investigative minds have any clues? — Charles N., Medford It's common to see bicycles careening down Medford's sidewalks, but on the morning of Nov. 11, 2017, security cameras caught one cyclist rolling along with a guitar. It was no ordinary guitar. It was a carefully crafted instrument built for Medford political consultant John Watt, who had purchased the one-of-a-kind instrument at a charity auction. Watt, of JWA Public Affairs, whose office is just off West Main Street on Grape Street in Medford, has not seen his guitar since that fateful Saturday. If the police have any leads, they haven't passed them along. "I'm heartbroken," admits Watt, a former member of the Oregon Legislature. "At the time, the detective from the Medford Police Department thought the case would solve itself." But the thief, whether acting alone or in concert, didn't give himself away by dumping the guitar at a pawn shop or selling it on eBay or Craigslist. "Whoever absconded with it took it out of the area," Watt said. Weeks before, Watt had bid on the second Beatles commemorative guitar produced by Dan Mish for the Living Opportunities auction; the first was "Yellow Submarine"-themed. Watt kept the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"-themed guitar in his office along with a commemorative gold edition of the album. "I paid a lot of money for it and was very proud of it," Watt said. So much so that it was visible to anybody looking through his office window. "I guess that was my first mistake," he said. When somebody tripped the back door alarm, Watt was summoned by a security company. He beat the police by 15 minutes, but waited for them rather than risk an encounter. "I don't know if it was from watching cops shows or not, but I didn't want to come up on someone rifling through my papers," he said. "So I waited for the police." However, whatever sensitive documents may have been in his office were of no concern to the intruder. "The guitar was the only thing they took," he said. Down the road, Watt suggested the thief might have a moment of "Instant Karma." — Send questions to “Since You Asked,” Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by email to [email protected]. We’re sorry, but the volume of questions received prevents us from answering all of them.