£499 sculpture stolen in daylight theft

A valuable sculpture worth hundreds of pounds was stolen in a brazen daylight theft at a city centre art store in Wolverhampton.

The distinctive artwork, which was on sale for £499, was taken in a swift distraction-type theft at Castle Gallery, Victoria Street.

Two men entered the shop and, while one struck up a conversation with the shopkeeper, the other walked out with the sculpture.

Sgt Adrian Reeves, from Wolverhampton police, today urged anyone with information about the theft, which happened shortly after 3pm on Wednesday, to come forward. "This is a distinctive sculpture stolen by brazen thieves in the middle of the day," he said. "The item is sold with a certificate but the offenders do not have this so I would ask anyone who may have been approached to buy the item in suspicious circumstances to contact us.

"Likewise, if anyone saw these two men acting suspiciously in or around the shop, I would ask them to come forward and speak to us as they could have crucial information to trace the offenders and indeed the stolen sculpture itself."

The sculpture, called One by One, consists of seven small, carved wooden people climbing across an eight-inch block of black stone. Sgt Reeves said the thieves are both Asian, aged between 24 and 28 and 5ft 8ins to 5ft 10ins tall.

One is stockily-built and was wearing a brown fleece with a dark blue T-shirt. The other is described as being thin and was wearing a white and blue tracksuit top.

Distraction burglars usually target homes, often claiming to be from a water or gas company to gain entry, or otherwise engaging the homeowner while an accomplice enters and raids the house.

Earlier this year, Edward O'Neill, aged 33, of Wiggington, near Tamworth, was jailed for six years following a spate of distraction burglaries in Staffordshire and Shropshire.