POLICE CLAIM STOLEN MOORE SCULPTURE LIKELY MELTED DOWN FOR SCRAP

The disappearance of Henry Moore’s two-ton, $4.6 million Reclining Figure sculpture has been solved by police, who believe that the work was melted down and sold for no more than $2,300, report Mark Townsend and Caroline Davies for The Guardian. The bronze sculpture was stolen from the seventy-two-acre estate of the Henry Moore Foundation in Much Hadham, Hertfordshire, in December 2005. Police feared at first that it had been stolen to order, but investigations suggest it was taken by a group of travelers from Essex and that the metal may have ended up feeding China’s growing demand for electric components.

Detective chief inspector Jon Humphries, of the Hertfordshire police, said it is believed the figure was “irreparably damaged” shortly after being taken away on a flatbed truck. Inquiries indicate that the statue was moved through a Dagenham scrap dealer in December 2005 and on to another Essex scrapyard. Shortly afterward, it was shipped abroad, possibly to Rotterdam and then farther east, circumventing an order to Interpol to monitor all ports for the distinctive figure. The Henry Moore Foundation is believed to have offered $15,000 for its safe return.

Humphries, who led the investigation, said: “We have evidence and information suggesting it was cut up on the night, then taken to a location where it was irreparably damaged before it was shipped abroad. In my mind, we’ve managed to kill off the mystery as much as is possible.”