Bronze Henry Moore sculpture worth £500,000 stolen from museum dedicated to artist

A bronze sculpture by Henry Moore valued at up to £500,000 was feared headed for the smelter last night after it was stolen from a museum dedicated to the artist.

The 22 in-high Sundial, from 1965, was taken from the grounds of The Henry Moore Foundation in Much Hadham, Hertfordshire.

The piece may have been stolen to order but police are considering the possibility it will be melted down for scrap and sold for a fraction of its value.

A bronze sculpture by Henry Moore, valued at up to £500,000, has been stolen from the grounds of a Hertfordshire museum dedicated to the artist

A bronze statue worth £3m million was stolen from the same museum in 2005.

The two-tonne piece was never recovered and officers later said they believed it had been melted down. It would have only fetched around £5,000 on the open market.

(Reproduced from dailymail.co.uk - the full article can be viewed at :
: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2172788/Bronze-Henry-Moore-sculpture-worth-500-000-stolen-museum-dedicated-artist.html#ixzz20VXbHjNi )

Gardien Comment:  Another example of a very heavy object being uplifted. One can never assume that something is too heavy or awkward to be stolen. See the advice re Antiques and Statuary at http://www.garden-security.co.uk/garden-antiques-security.aspx