Huge Henry Moore sculpture stolen in Britain
LONDON (Reuters) - British police hunted for three men on Saturday who stole a huge bronze Henry Moore sculpture worth up to 3 million pounds ($5.30 million) and a spokesman said they feared the piece would be destroyed for scrap.
Police said the 3.5 meter long (11 ft 5.8 in) sculpture, “A Reclining Figure,” was stolen from the Henry Moore Foundation in Hertfordshire, north of London, on Thursday night by three men who drove it away.
“This is a very valuable statue and we are working closely with the Henry Moore Foundation to ensure its safe return,” Detective Sergeant Graeme Smith said, adding that the Foundation was offering “a substantial reward.”
“We’re keeping an open mind at the moment,” he told Reuters. “It could be anything from an organized theft for persons in the art world, down to an opportunist theft for the scrap value of the bronze.
“It would be extremely difficult to sell it on as it is … (and) that is what the people at the foundation fear.”
British sculptor Moore, who died in 1986, is renowned for his large-scale, abstract work.
Moore made the sculpture in 1969/70. It was acquired by the Foundation in 1987.