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 were 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.
"The theft of public art and metal is becoming a sickening epidemic. I would ask the Met police and their metal-theft taskforce to investigate this theft as a matter of urgency and would ask anyone with any information about the whereabouts of the sculpture to contact us or the police."
Trevor Moore, chairman of Dulwich park friends, said it was a terrible blow. "It has always been there as long as I've been in Dulwich," he said. "It's just one of those things which is always there as you wander past and you feel like you've had a finger chopped off, in all honesty."
The work, one of six casts called Two Forms (Divided Circle), made in 1969, sat in a gladed area in the middle of the park where there is no CCTV.
"They must have had a major industrial buzz saw of some sort to hack it off," Moore said. "We've always been saying that it's a miracle that it's never had graffiti or been despoiled in any way.
"It was the only major sculpture in the park. Visitors to Dulwich Picture Gallery, which is only a stone's throw from the park, used to come into the park to see the Hepworth because it is such a famous piece."
The theft of the two-metre high sculpture must have taken a big effort but the chances of it being sold on as a piece of art would appear to be remote.
Council chiefs were offering a £1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the thieves.
The theft comes a month after a bronze statue of the social reformer Dr Alfred Salter was stolen from Rotherhithe, also in Southwark. The statue, called Dr Salter's Daydream and valued at £17,500, was erected in 1991 and showed the campaigner in his old age sitting on a bench and waving to his daughter Joyce and her cat.
It was confirmed in 2009 that a two-tonne Henry Moore sculpture stolen from Much Hadham in Hertfordshire in 2005 was melted, possibly for no more than £1,500.
The Dulwich Hepworth was acquired by the Greater London council in 1970 and transferred into the ownership of Southwark council when the GLC was abolished.
Hepworth once said of the work produced in the late 1960s: "You can climb through the Divided Circle – you don't need to do it physically to experience it."
Comments
20 December 2011 1:57PM
Hepworth's work is so fantastic, what a terrible shame. Who are these people who put people's lives at risk by thieving from hospitals and railways and devastate public works of art. What a low-life thing to do.
20 December 2011 2:01PM
As much as I deplore this, and I do, why no mention of the big target in all this metal theft? Our war memorials.
20 December 2011 2:01PM
Sad, but nothing new. I seem to recall that a certain altar in Rome is made from what used to be bronze roof tiles on the even then ancient Pantheon.
I wonder if it wouldn't be prudent to take casts of public sculpture in places hard to police/protect and place the original in a place of safe keeping while a cast made to look like the original but in worthless materials stands in its place. Some idiots steal it thinking it bronze you just place another cast, and so on...
20 December 2011 2:02PM
Depends on the location I would have thought, war memorials in plain view in town centres are probably safe...
20 December 2011 2:02PM
It really is time that the scrap metal industry was cleaned up. Somebody out there is making a tidy profit on the theft of art and infrastructure, and you can bet its not the actual thieves.
20 December 2011 2:09PM
The punishment for these crimes should be to physically mine by handpick and smelt from some cold celtic quarry the same quantity of metal as stolen. Plus nationalise the scrap metal business?
20 December 2011 2:09PM
A heavy bronze Barbara Hepworth sculpture which has brought pleasure to park visitors for more than 40 years has been stolen overnight by suspected metal thieves.
It's metal. They stole it. I think we might be able to dispense with the "suspected" in this instance.
20 December 2011 2:12PM
Well no, until they are caught, if ever, we don't KNOW that they stole it for the metal or if they were art thieves. The former is more likely, but unless you have the skill of mind reading you just don't know...
20 December 2011 2:17PM
total scum
20 December 2011 2:19PM
Broken Britain.
20 December 2011 2:21PM
For some reason I can get the response button...
Oh well...
@Quetzalcaotl - that's where you'd be wrong.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15532694
20 December 2011 2:21PM
That's can't get of course....
20 December 2011 2:21PM
I'm just surprised that the Angel of the North has not been spotted strapped to the back of a pick up truck.
20 December 2011 2:27PM
The Henry Moore was nicked by Travellers, cut up and sold for scrap. A lot of ancient church bells, war memorials, civic statues etc. have also been stolen. Given the fate of the Henry Moore, I'm staggered wealthy Dulwich's powers-that-be hadn't shelled out for CCTV.
Also, this has been going on for years, lead roofs, roadsigns, manholes etc. stolen. My relatives work in metal and are constantly having things stolen from their property. Now it's copper cabling to hospitals and railway lines making the headlines. Why are scrapyards allowed to operate without any (apparent or enforced) rules and cash-in-hand?
20 December 2011 2:28PM
As YorkshireCat says they need to impose stronger regulations on the Scrap Metal industry.....but they need to do it NOW.
They have been talking about it for months now.
They made sure they threw all their resources at the rioters earlier this year .....maybe they should show the same enthusiasm to stop this (potentially life threatening) crime.
20 December 2011 2:28PM
Civilisation really is going backwards
20 December 2011 2:34PM
They may just be borrowing it. Ha! You hadn't thought of that had you, smarty pants.
On a less facetious note, I agree with someone who posted earlier that the whole scrap metal trade needs proper regulation.
20 December 2011 2:34PM
Apparently the police have located the two holes.
20 December 2011 2:36PM
Absolutely - regulation of the scrap metal industry - and lengthy prison sentences for those in the industry handling the stolen goods. Stealing the copper lines from railways in particular is causing chaos on some lines, and the theft of artwork, well what to say. ...
20 December 2011 2:38PM
Does anyone else just feel utterly, utterly depressed?
20 December 2011 2:38PM
This is happening all over the UK with war memorials etc. Give Guardian a whiff of art and they're all over it.
Metal theft in this country is ridiculous
20 December 2011 2:42PM
Disagree, this sort of behaviour is what our Great Nation is built upon. These people are entrepreneurs creating wealth, just like BTL landlords are.
You also have to applaud their thinking, I would never have thought to steal metal plaques from war memorials, ever.
Good luck to them, in these hard economic times people have to diversify and think outside the box and don't forget that the money they make goes straight back into the consumer economy.
What's the matter, don't you like the naked Free Market any more?
20 December 2011 2:47PM
Careful folks, this one doesn't let any goats across his bridge.
20 December 2011 2:47PM
It's thoroughly depressing, but as many have said not new. There is, I believe a petition out there which is asking for cash sales of scrap to be banned. This doesn't seem unreasonable. If you want to trade scrap, you have to have a bank account.
here it is
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/406
20 December 2011 2:49PM
If it was bronze and not steel the thieves might have a go at nibbling away chunks in an escalating game of chicken as the risk of it falling over grows.
20 December 2011 2:51PM
Seems that the originals have to be put in storage these days and resin reproductions erected in their place. Otherwise the desecration of memorials and sculpture will continue.
20 December 2011 3:03PM
These guys have absolutely no fear of being caught.
Where I live, on the Saturday night of the August bank holiday over 5 miles of telephone cable was stolen straight off the poles.
Of course the police caught nobody.
20 December 2011 3:15PM
It's not just about the look of the sculpture though. I knew and loved that sculpture. If ever I walked past it, I would always be drawn to go up and touch it. The sheer solidity of the structure was compelling, and really couldn't be recreated with the use of cheaper materials.
My little boy took some of his earliest steps playing around that statue, and I'm immensely sad to see it lost to the public at the hands of selfish thieves.
20 December 2011 3:19PM
Apparently the police have located the two holes
Are they looking into them?
20 December 2011 3:21PM
Surely the best way to deal with people like these is to turn them into Roman Candles (think Name of the Rose) and burn them alive on Pay TV.
In this way money may be raised towards paying for a replacement for the stolen item.. plus they are deterred for the future.
Might be worth applying same punishment to bankers, Nick Clegg, etc...
20 December 2011 3:28PM
Maybe it was Brian Sewell, finally putting words into action.
No, there really is nothing funny about this you rotten thieving BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASTARDS.
Someone stole my new Xmas bike last week and it was a work of art too.
I belong tae Galsgae, dear ol Glasgae toon.
20 December 2011 3:30PM
The thieves might want to think about taking that god-awful Churchill - Roosevelt on a bench thing on Bond Street, or the revolting turd-coloured kissing couple at St Pancras. That I COULD support.
20 December 2011 3:31PM
I agree it is sad, but what is the solution? Can't afford to put a guard on every one of these sculptures like as not. Then what? Don't want to see any more go like this?
I think some practical measure may be necessary. One can make a resin copy which looks exactly like the original, and even has it's solidity (though why would you touch it?).
20 December 2011 3:31PM
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20 December 2011 3:33PM
Something irreplaceable reduced to scrap metal for a few quid. Yes it is bloody depressing. You'd think great works of art in public spaces would have a civilising influence, but these days everything is reduced to the values of the market place.
20 December 2011 3:34PM
It is a shame, but people have always nicked stuff. Lets get some perspective Guardian readers eh?
20 December 2011 3:38PM
They do get mentioned all the time, just this article happens to be about a work of art. Its a very sad day when we have to take our public works of art (some of them priceless) and put them in safe places out of the public eye because some petty thieves can make a couple of hundred or a thousand quid out of selling the copper to scrap dealers or the Chinese.
20 December 2011 3:41PM
Its not the shame of something just being nicked, this will be melted (destroyed) and its irreplaceable and an important part of 20th Century British Art.
20 December 2011 3:43PM
It is a shame, but people have always nicked stuff. Lets get some perspective Guardian readers eh?
Your right ofcourse but the nice very Strathclyde Policeman said bikes have to be kept inside no matter what lock you use(they nicked that too)
So why in the name of common sense is there no security camera on these things.
Webcams are dirt cheap and can be plugged online with wifi so why don't the councils do this?
Its been going on for years. What's the problem councillor dumb-rse?
20 December 2011 3:53PM
Absolutely, but I suspect a lot of the stuff is just going abroad in containers along with other metal 'scrap'.
But a few massive fines for scrappers and the thieves might do something - if only make us better about ruining the likes of people who take up manhole covers, damage emergency generators, pull up signalling cable and overhead catenary on the railways.
This seems to be easy uncontentious legislation so why the delays?
20 December 2011 3:55PM
No, the scale of this is something new, due to global demand and the ease with which thieves can move and cut up heavy items (by first nicking one of those things parking wardens use to grab cars, for example). Last week, a hospital had to cancel cancer operations when cabling was stolen. This is blighting people's lives.
20 December 2011 3:56PM
thr govt? do something to make illegal activity stop? You must be joking unless it's unions or feral youth the govt sits there with it's collective thumb up it's arse & it's mind in neutral
I mean there's a well known fraud with scrapyards been going on forever online
you search parts, and the website network pretends to present you with the yard which has parts in stock. you ring and get a "wait while someone answers" line... which is the scam
nobody answers but you dont figure that out until you paid 5 minutes at 1.60 or whatever per minute.
This is a large network of websites claiming to represent british scrap dealers nationwide btw and they claim to all link to a special system which scrap dealers use to catalog parts - you cant search for second hard parts in the UK without ending up on a site which is part of the scam network as far as i can tell
try it for yourself, search for any s/h part for any car in UK and see what happens. I guarantee you'll end up on a site which is part of that scam network.
20 December 2011 4:02PM
We all have scrap thieves in our towns and cities.
In mine, everyone knows who is doing it. They park their lorries outside their houses overnight, loaded with all manner of metal, including nearly-new bikes, cabling, roof lead, and even supermarket trollies. Everything with identifying marks removed, of course.
They all sell their "scrap" to four dealers. One was busted a few weeks ago - approximately three years after they were dobbed-in by one of their enemies. The operators were arrested and charged, but are back in business already. They'll probably get a tine or a suspended sentence for handling, pleading ignorance.
If the dibbles wanted to catch the bad guys, they could, but gathering the evidence takes time and a great deal of effort. Mind you, they're happy to spend millions implementing wide-scale surveillance of peaceful protestors, so they obviously have the necessary resources.
20 December 2011 4:03PM
fukking bastards - i loved that piece
20 December 2011 4:06PM
w@nkers.
20 December 2011 4:09PM
Broken France too then.
I was reading about the theft of rural power lines in a French newspaper a few weeks ago.
Theft doesn't only happen in Britain .... or didn't you know that?
20 December 2011 4:13PM
Like Holbeck I'm already in despair at losing my local library in West Norwood - closed since this spring and no idea of a re-opening date in 2012, and even more angry that no-one seems capable of catching the people doing it.
Amongst all the local hoo-haa over the closed library, there has been *no* word, as far as I know, regarding the potential identity of the copper thieves, or any involvement from the police at all.
Now - if it is a local gang - they have simply wandered into Dulwich Park and stolen a Barbara Hepworth. I would rather have my library back than a Barbara Hepworth, I must be honest, but the whole thing makes me miserable beyond words.
20 December 2011 4:16PM
No, the scale of this is something new,
B.S. - this has been going on for ever. When was the lead nicked off the roof of Fountains Abbey etc?
20 December 2011 4:16PM
This is blighting peoples lives. Correct.
A Babs Hepworth sculpture being stolen isn't blighting peoples lives.
This may be the straw that's breaking a lot of your backs but jeez get it into perspective. Is it cos its in a nice park? Would you be up in arms talking about the blight on peoples lives if it was the one on the sise of John Lewis????
Not all thievery is the same.
20 December 2011 4:21PM
This is a characteristic of countries with worthless paper money. METAL especially copper is meltable and untracable and so reverts to its original use as currency.