The Empire’s statues are in safe hands abroad

sir – British diplomats have protested against the abandonment of Queen Victoria’s statue in Bangkok, following the sale of the embassy’s colonial-era compound (report, February 1).

I’m sure the Thais can be relied upon to take care of it. I’m surprised that our colonial relics are, in most civilised countries, so well looked after.

One of the most unusual I have come across was in a rather remote Turkish village in Cyprus. We parked our hire car alongside a high stone wall, into which was set a letter box still showing the crown and the letters “VR”. It was even more surprising to find a statue of Edward VII in the village square, more than half a century after independence.

MD Burbidge

Bexhill-on-sea, East Sussex