ABOVE: Lynn Chadwick’s The Three Watchers, a bronze sculpture in Wandsworth, England, one figure of which was recently stolen.

Thieves recently struck again in what is turning into a rash of thefts of public bronze sculptures in England, this time making off with one of the three standing figures from sculptor Lynn Chadwick’s The Three Watchers (1960). The Guardian reported yesterday that the incident is the 20th such theft within the last year. The issue blew wide open late in 2005 when a two-tonne, £3 million Henry Moore bronze, Reclining Figure, was carried off in the dead of night by thieves using a portable crane and a stolen truck.

The sculptures are being stolen for their valuable metal content, although everyone notes with chagrin that they would be a hell of a lot more valuable left intact (but try explaining that to a bronze scrapper on the trail of an easy £5,000). Soaring copper prices mean that nefarious characters with a lorry and a few strong helpers can haul away a sculpture in a few minutes, melt the thing down before sunrise, and liquidate it by lunchtime. Institutions with large bronzes on their properties are being encouraged to step up security or move the sculptures to more secure locales.

LINK: The Guardian > As another bronze is stolen, police fear treasures are going for scrap