Brazen thieves fail to make big score

Wellington Police are appealing for sightings of the missing sculpture.

Brazen thieves who made off with a 120kg bronze sculpture displayed across the road from the Wellington central police station are unlikely to get much more than $500 from a scrap metal dealer, an art gallery says.

The two-metre privately-owned Paul Dibble sculpture, valued at $65,000, was stolen around the middle of March from the Chews Lane Precinct, which links Victoria Street and Chews Lane in central Wellington.

At the time, it was being displayed by the Page Blackie Gallery - situated across the road from the Wellington police station.

Police released information on the theft today.

A spokesman from the gallery said it was "absolutely gutting".

"We have no idea how it happened."

At the time it was stolen, the sculpture was not inside the enclosed gallery space, however two steel roller doors secured the arcade where it was located.

"There's also CCTV [cameras] dotted around the place.

"We thought we had the best security system - with the police station across the road."

While the bronze piece was insured, "everyone involved" just wanted it found, he said.

"Art works are very precious things to everyone involved. We want it back."

The spokesman also said metal, melted down from the sculpture, was unlikely to be worth much more than $500 at a scrap metal dealer.

Detective Constable Bryan Miller said it was possible the sculpture had been taken out of Wellington by the thieves.

"Through our own enquiries, through the second hand dealers, the scrap metal dealers, the art dealers, auction houses and things like that, no one's come forward."

CCTV footage had also failed to turn up anything useful, he said.

When asked whether police were concerned the theft occurred only metres from its district headquarters, Mr Miller said: "It's certainly a brazen theft in that regard. It could have been taken from anywhere regardless of its proximity to the police station.

"We're not concerned about that at all. We're just treating it as another theft."

Anyone with any information on the missing bronze sculpture should contact Wellington Police on (04) 381 2000. Information can also be provided anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

About two weeks before the sculpture was reported stolen, police stormed a nearby apartment block on Chews Lane and found a p-lab. Four people were arrested over the drug bust.

Hot property:

* Oct 2007: Five bronze sculptures stolen by thieves who used bolt cutters to break into the Wintergardens Fernery in the Auckland Domain

* Jan 2007: Large bronze sculpture of a weta stolen from outside the Epsom library in Auckland

* Dec 2005: Henry Moore sculpture, valued between $6 - $8 million, placed under 24-hour security at the Wellington Botanic Gardens due to fears it could be stolen

* Oct 2005: Napier's iconic Pania of the Reef sculpture, weighing 70kg, stolen from Marine Parade

* Oct 2005: $25,000 Paul Dibble sculpture stolen from outside a cafe in Waikanae on the Kapiti Coast