Barbara Hepworth sculpture stolen from London Park

21.12.2011 [15:21]
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Baku, December 21 (AZERTAC). A heavy bronze Barbara Hepworth sculpture that has been on show in Dulwich park for more than 40 years has been stolen overnight by suspected metal thieves.

Staff at the park in south London was confronted by an empty plinth on Tuesday morning. The thieves apparently drove up to the sculpture after gaining entry by breaking the padlock of the park`s Queen Mary gate which leads straight on to the South Circular road.

Rising prices for copper, lead and bronze have triggered a huge increase in metal theft nationally, whether from railways lines, buildings or works of art. The Metropolitan police set up a taskforce to deal with the incidents this week.

The leader of Southwark council, Peter John, asked for anyone with information on the Hepworth sculpture to come forward. "The theft of this important piece of 20th-century public art from Dulwich Park is devastating," he said.

Barbara Hepworth sculpture stolen from London Park

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