HILO, Hawai'i — Big Island police have arrested two Waimea residents in connection with the theft of artifacts from New Guinea and New Zealand that are part of the Rockefeller Collection long kept on display at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel in South Kohala.

Both are former hotel employees, police said.

The artifacts are worth about $59,000, and all but one of the stolen items were recovered, said Kona police Detective Kenneth Quiocho.

A Big Island grand jury indicted Luana H. Smith, 28, earlier this year on a charge of first-degree theft in connection with the case after some of the missing artifacts allegedly were found in a vehicle Smith was driving when police searched her Waimea home and a Kona self-storage unit, Quiocho said.

The indictment alleges that between Aug. 1, 2007, and Sept. 17, 2007, Smith "received, retained or disposed of" the artifacts, knowing they were stolen. Smith has pleaded not guilty to the charge, and her lawyer did not return a call yesterday seeking a comment on the case.

Police also arrested and charged Smith's boyfriend, 37-year-old Jay Brewer, with first-degree theft in connection with the same case, but the charge was later dropped. Prosecutors are expected to seek an indictment later against Brewer, Quiocho said.

Police recovered 21 artifacts in the searches, which were carried out last year in connection with a burglary investigation involving the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel.

Hotel founder Laurance S. Rockefeller assembled a private collection of 1,600 Pacific and Asian artworks and museum-quality artifacts that are displayed throughout the hotel, and the resort offered both self-guided and docent-guided tours of the art and gardens.

Most of the stolen artifacts were on display in area of the hotel known as a Garden Pavilion, while others were displayed in other parts of the resort. They were reported stolen after burglaries in March and October 2006, Quiocho said.

The New Guinea artifacts included a carved tool used to bail out a canoe along with carved wooden pedestals, and also recovered was a carved wooden bowl made by Maori in New Zealand and some food implements. The only item that was not recovered was a bowl from New Guinea, Quiocho said.

Quiocho said an effort was made to sell some of the items, which had been given to a Hawai'i art dealer on a consignment basis.

The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel has been closed since December 2006 because of extensive structural damage from the Oct. 15, 2006 earthquakes.