British police said on Sunday they had found a flatbed truck and crane that were apparently used in the theft of a £3-million ($5,2-million) Henry Moore sculpture from the artist’s estate north of London.
The truck and crane, discovered in the area on Saturday night, were filmed by a security video as they took the two-tonne Reclining Figure bronze sculpture from the Henry Moore Foundation estate in the county of Hertfordshire, police said.
Police fear the thieves may have stolen the 1969/1970 work on Thursday night to melt down and sell for scrap metal, even though it could earn far more money if sold as a precious art work.
”It is a nationally renowned sculpture and very, very difficult to get rid of,” said Chief Inspector Richard Harbon of Hertfordshire Police.
”This is not opportunist theft,” he added. ”These are people who knew what they were doing, knew what they were after. A very, very audacious theft.”
Using the video footage and a tip from a member of the public, police are still searching for the second vehicle used in the theft and the three suspects, including one who wore a hooded jacket and one who wore a baseball cap.
Moore created some of modern art’s most recognisable sculptures, including large, abstract works cast in bronze or carved from stone, using fractured human forms as metaphors for landscapes.
The prolific British artist, who died in 1986 at age 88, established and endowed a foundation in 1977 that operates from Perry Green, his 28ha country estate and studios 48km north of London.
The foundation is reassessing security after the theft, said Gareth Spence, its spokesperson. The estate, which has gates and alarms, had never before had such an incident.
The Henry Moore Foundation said it was offering a ”substantial” reward for information leading to the work’s recovery. – Sapa-AP