WATERVILLE — Police are investigating the theft of a graphite drawing by Waterville artist Brian Vigue from the 26th annual Maine Open Juried Art Show at Waterville Public Library.

“Alive in the Darkness,” a 12-inch-by-16-inch framed work depicting a woman holding a gargoyle, was likely taken sometime Thursday, Library Director Sarah Sugden said, noting that library employees check the art show each night before closing.

Sugden said she is sick about the theft, which was discovered by an employee making rounds Thursday.

“We find it really distressing and really disappointing that this has happened,” Sugden said Thursday afternoon during an interview at the library. “We hold a responsibility to keep these precious artworks safe.”

Vigue co-owns The Framemakers downtown with his wife, Amy Cyrway, who is president of the Waterville Area Art Society, which presents the show along with the library and Waterville Main Street. More than 100 works by artists from all over the state are on display on the first floor of the library in an area known as the fireplace room. Vigue’s piece was hanging with other works on the second partition as one enters the room.

Vigue was home sick Thursday, but Cyrway was at the library, speaking with Sugden, and later with Waterville police Officer Matt Libby, who arrived shortly after Sugden reported the theft.

Vigue said in a phone interview that he was disheartened to learn his drawing had been stolen.

“It’s the first time it’s happened to me,” he said. “It was not good news to receive.”

Vigue spent four months working on the piece, which bore a price tag of $300 at the show.

His wife said she will do everything possible to try to recover the piece.

“I had artwork stolen before, 13 years ago, and it’s a violation because you put your heart and soul into something like that and someone just takes it, and it’s heartbreaking,” she said.

Cyrway said she and Vigue work on art wherever they go and whenever they have time.

“He’s very detail-oriented,” she said. “We work on art at home. He worked on it pretty much everywhere we went. When he had a break at work he worked on it.”

Works at the juried art show were judged March 20 and prizes were awarded. The stolen drawing didn’t receive an award.

Sugden said she feels responsible for the theft because the library hosts the show, and she is taking measures to ensure no other pieces are stolen.

She also plans to post a notice at the library with a photo of Vigue’s stolen piece, asking anyone who may have seen it to contact police.

The show features oils, watercolors, pastels, acrylics and other media. Awards are funded mostly through sponsorship donations from the Art Society, Colby College Museum of Art, The Framemakers, Kennebec Savings Bank, Maine State Credit Union and other sources.