These thieves must rein it in: Hunt for lacking bronze horse statue which was stolen from historic property at the hours of darkness

The homeowners of a historic nation home have appealed to the general public for assist after a big bronze statue of a horse was stolen from their grounds at the hours of darkness.

Sculptor Marcia Astor’s bronze creation of a stallion was taken from the gardens at Forde Abbey in Dorset. 

The large piece of artwork was faraway from its plinth in a single day final week.

Police now say they’re attempting to find a blue Ford Transit-style van which is known to have been seen near the property and within the close by village of Thorncombe on the time.

The statue vanished in a single day between 10pm on Tuesday September 26 and 8am on Wednesday September 27.

Sculptor Marcia Astor’s bronze creation of a stallion was taken from the gardens at Forde Abbey in Dorset

The horse statue is identifiable via a signature marked ‘Marcia Astor, 2000’.

It had been in place for 23 years having been purchased for the Millennium.

Forde Abbey is run as a vacationer attraction and a priory has been on the positioning since between 1133 and 1136.

It’s now owned by Alice Kennard and her husband Julian.

It was Alice’s mom Lisa who purchased the bronze carving for her father Mark Roper, who died in 2021.

Forde Abbey has handed via a wide range of homeowners, together with seventeenth Century MP Edmund Prideaux, Oliver Cromwell’s Lawyer Normal, and thinker Jeremy Bentham.

The property was additionally used as a location for the Robert Downey Jr. movie Restoration and the 2015 model of Far From the Madding Crowd.

An announcement on the abbey’s Instagram account reads: ‘Please assist us discover our horse!!

‘A bronze statue of a horse has been stolen within the evening from the Abbey gardens.

‘The stolen sculpture, referred to as Marcia, is a 1/3 sized maquette of the rearing stallion that’s positioned on the roundabout outdoors the Nationwide Stud in Newmarket.

‘It was made by my godmother Marcia Astor, the sculptor. Her signature and the foundry mark are on the statue.

‘This millennium statue was a gift from my mom Lisa to my father Mark Roper.

‘The stolen sculpture performed a vital half in our life and has been within the Abbey gardens for 23 years with backyard evolving round it.

‘The sculpture was stolen in a single day on Sunday and not using a tyre mark on the garden.

Dorset Police power are interesting for any witnesses who noticed the statue being stolen from the Abbey

The assertion posted on Forde Abbey’s Instagram account three days in the past 

It’s a particularly heavy bronze sculpture, but it surely has been very fastidiously lifted off and not using a scratch on the plinth.

‘Please share this submit, and assist us discover the sculpture and hopefully put our beloved bronze again on its plinth.’

Sergeant Natalie Skinner, of Dorset Police’s Rural Crime Group, mentioned: ‘I’m interesting to anybody who witnessed the statue being stolen to please contact us.

‘I additionally want to establish the proprietor of the above-mentioned car sighted within the space on the time and converse to them.

‘Along with this, I’m reaching out to residents in these areas to please test their house CCTV cameras to see if they’ve captured something that will assist us establish the car and its homeowners.’