Ornaments still without a place to call gnome

Statue gnomes move on and dash MBE pensioner’s hopes of reunion

A decorated Angus man’s hopes of being reunited with his missing gnomes have been dashed.

The gnomes appeared to have gone on ‘gardening leave’ when Lamont Forbes MBE drove to Arbroath’s Declaration statue after reading his morning copy of The Courier.

We told how five gnomes had taken up residence alongside Robert The Bruce and Bernard de Linton at the statue in recent days.

Mr Forbes, who is retired but wellknown in Angus for his voluntary work with Guide Dogs, believes four of the five gnomes that were in Arbroath were stolen from his Friockheim garden.

He said two larger ceramic figures were taken by thieves at Hogmanay, while two smaller gnomes were taken overnight on Tuesday.

Sadly for Mr Forbes, the gnomes had gone walkabout again by the time he turned up in Arbroath around 11.30am yesterday.

“Two large gnomes were stolen from my garden at New Year,” said Mr Forbes, who was recognised by the Queen for his services to Guide Dogs.

“They were tied up with wire in my garden. They cut the wire and took the gnomes. I just put it down to New Year high jinks.

“My two smaller gnomes disappeared between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.

“When I opened The Courier I was convinced they were the same gnomes at the statue in Arbroath. The four of them are identical, although I’m not sure who their friend is.”

Mr Forbes said he replaced his two large gnomes when they went missing at the start of the year. He said he does not know why anyone would want to steal his gnomes, as the small ones are valued at £20 and the large ones at £25.

“What good are they going to be to anyone else?” he said. “I think it’s likely this is the work of pranksters but I’d love to get them back.”

Locals said the gnomes were still at the statue on Wednesday afternoon.

Some have suggested it could be what is known as a “travelling gnome prank” – the practice of returning a garden gnome “to the wild” – which involves taking it on a trip and photographing it at famous landmarks.

Mr Forbes said he has not received any prank postcards, however, since the gnomes went walkabout.

Picture: Dougie Nicolson ... now you don’t: Mr Forbes at the statue, with not a gnome in sight.

Now you see them ...