Heartless thieves have stolen a Haslingden sculpture created by children from a special school. The 7ft statue known as “The Workers” was created by pupils at Tor View Community Special School in Haslingden, North West England. The three “match stick” people were made from tubular steel pieces leading many to believe the figures could be on there way to a scrap metal yard. This is the second time the sculpture has been targeted by thieves since it was erected 2006.

UPDATE :  Well it seems our heartless thieves aren’t heartless at all. The stolen sculpture has not only been returned by the guilty thieves but they left a fifty pound note attached to a letter. The letter read : “We’re sorry. We didn’t know the children made this and we are very sorry for stealing drunken. I hope the attached £50 will cover the cost to re-weld him on. Don’t worry we’ve looked after him.”

A wooden statue of the goddess Kannon was stolen from a local temple last month only to find itself being passed around like a hot sweet potato. The “Senju Kannon” (Thousand-armed Kannon) statue, which was made during the Muromachi Period (1336-1573), was quite happily sitting in the Hozoji Temple’s Kannon hall in Shimada, Japan, when a shifty thief nicked it and swapped it for an inferior one. Somehow the Kannon statue ended up in a flea market in the nearby city of Fujieda where a shrewd art dealer spotted it and grabbed the bargain. Buying it for 7000 yen the dealer then sold it at auction for 500,000 (see, told you he was shrewd).From there it was again on-sold to a dealer in the Kansai district. Eventually a collector bought it, only to discover it was on a stolen list. He did the right thing and contacted the Shizuoka Prefectural Police. Investigators believe the original seller is the culprit. There have been three similar thefts in recent months.

Alas, it isn’t Ace but the the Ventura Police Department on the case when a missing Bee sculpture was stolen from a fair at the Ventura County Fairground on the 15th August, 2008. The 20 inch bronze sculpted by Chris Provenzano simply vanished ( could it be another case of Colony Collapse Disorder?).The $4,000 bronze and glass bee was yanked off its limestone base.

Bee Sculpture Update : Well, alrighty then, the bee sculpture has been found and will be returned to the artist shortly. A tearful woman rang the fair to say she had it was in the trunk of her car.Evidently the excuse was a group of people were mucking around with it and “accidentally took it home with them” (I think she was telling a Ripley’s !).

It seems like a public art fiasco. A decade old missing aluminum horse sculpture was found in someones backyard about the same  time as a rhino sculpture was nicked from outside a Tampa business. Seems like the Tampa police will need to take art appreciation lessons if this continues.
Someone obviously fancied themselves as a bit of an artist,as they gave the horse sculpture a bit of a once over with white paint.  They weren’t very imaginative though, painting three legs and part of its face. The horse was discovered after a tip off. Hmm the lady of the house claims her ex bought it at a yard sale for $25 ( Don’t tell Antique Roadshow!). And no, she ain’t confessing to the paint job either. The horse will be going back to the artist’s widow.
The Rhino sculpture on the other hand is still missing. The rhino, which is 10 feet long, 5 feet wide and weighs a few hundred pounds, was last seen outside a business on 12th street.

UPDATE : Stop the presses, Rhino sculpture has been found. The 200lb  steel sculpture was found dumped in the parking lot of the Round Up bar on W. Hillsborough Avenue.