A 55 foot tall lobster named Larry has just gone up for sale after spending eleven years sitting on a grassy patch of land beside Princes Highway in Australia. When Casey Sharpe bought Larry eleven years ago, he imagined that The Big Lobster would attract crowds to the business behind Larry’s tail, but these crowds never materialized and the business closed two years ago.

An offer has come in by someone who wants to purchase Larry, but the issue is that he would have to be shipped thousands of miles away to Western Australia. Sharpe has set a deadline for next Monday for the local council, or anyone else, to buy Larry. He said that neighbors will be furious if he leaves.

“My name will be mud,” Sharpe said. “I might have to move towns.”

The lobster is one of Australia’s “Big Things,” which refers to the oversize objects sprinkled across this vast country.

Larry is located at the entrance of Kingston Southeast, which has a population of 1,400 and is a fishing and farming town. The people who live there cannot imagine the town without Larry.

“I think there’d be a revolution,” said Jeff Pinkerton, who is a butcher in Kingston.

“Without that lobster, Kingston dies,” added Uncle Rob, an artist with a gallery on the main street.

Sharpe is hoping that the government will step in before the deadline to save Larry. He explained that he spent 35,000 Australian dollars (about $25,600) of his own money toward Larry’s makeover, and he does not want to have to sell him to a stranger.

“This should be a mecca tourism center for the Limestone Coast and beyond,” he said.

We hope that Larry can be saved before it’s too late!