The previous owner of my new house left their gnome and I can't pick it up or teach it new things. I wish it would leave. My own gnome has a bad temper and I'd hate for there to be problems.
So the little bits and pieces of gnome in the area and that 'burned' smell are just incidental?
I had a 'stuck' gnome not long ago, too. I ended up moving before I got around to calling in an exterminator. It points out the danger in asking the devs to do too much fancy stuff to the way houses and ownership works. Gnomes and Jack-o-lanterns are special case instances of property with special 'ownership' features, and they ended up broken as a result of owners selling a house. It's what makes me nervous about lockable cabinets in houses.