A giant, 54-foot rubber ducky has gone missing from a river in China

By now you have probably developed a fondness for the big yellow rubber ducky that's been touring the world. 

He is part of Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman's exhibit called "Spreading Joy Around the World," which he has done. Until now.

The duck has reportedly gone missing from a river in China’s southwestern Guiyang city after a major storm in the area.

Before and after. (Screengrab)

Local police are urging locals to "step up the hunt" for the duck, which shouldn't really be that hard to find since it's 54 feet tall. If it's still alive, that is.

From police: “If you live along the river and see an 18-meter tall big yellow duck, please call 5961027.” 

Bad storms have caused floods and mudslides in central and southwestern China over the last week, killing dozens. But nobody thought the duck would be next.

“The duck itself weighed around one ton, together with its over 10-ton floating metal platform, and several steel wires fixing it to the bottom of the river,” Yan Jianxin, who helped coordinate the duck exhibition in Guiyang, told the Wall Street Journal.

But that “didn’t stop it from being flushed away by the flood.”

No, it didn't. And we're sorry you had to see it, Yan.

“The duck flopped over and was flushed away really quickly by the torrential flood. It disappeared right in front of me in several seconds,” Yan said.

Just horrible.

Here's something that may take the edge off. The duck has been through worse. And lived to tell about it.

Also there's more than one duck. So there goes that childhood illusion.