Fears for missing bronze sculpture
THE Drumcliffe community is fearful for what might become of the missing bronze sculpture which was taken from outside Drumcliffe church some time in the last two weeks.
It forms part of a larger piece displaying the poem “He wishes for the cloths of heaven” by the renowned Irish poet, which is situated in the car park at Drumcliffe Church.
The sculpture has not yet been found, but a number of leads are being followed.
Jarlath Gantly, spokesperson for the Drumcliffe Development Association told The Sligo Champion: “We have had good leads from members of the public.
“We initially thought that the sculpture had gone missing on Friday or Saturday because it was only noticed on Sunday evening.
“We received a report from a member of the public that there were two vans in the area acting suspiciously. Two vans were seen in the car park around 1am on Wednesday night,” he said.
He added: “The location of the piece is sort of hidden. It’s in the car-park tucked away in the corner so it’s not something that people might notice straight away.
“One of the problems is that we can’t identify exactly when it was taken. There was no ancillary damage, there were no barriers broken or anything like that.”
Mr. Gantly says that it would be relatively easy to remove the sculpture from the piece, and he feels it could have been done quickly.
“It weighs less than 100 kilos so two men could easily lift it. There were only two bolts holding it to the ground so it wouldn’t take that much work to remove it.
“It was snapped cleanly off. Someone could have just put a rope around it and snapped it off or something like that. It could well have been planned, I doubt this was spontaneous. There’s a low footpath there too so someone could have been in and gone in 20 minutes.”
He admits, though, that they are fearful for what might have happened to the sculpture.
“We are fearful for what has happened to it. There has been similar incidents around the country. People often mistake bronze for an expensive metal but it’s not. It wouldn’t be anything like copper. When people try and scrap bronze they realise how little it is worth. If this was melted down and put in a block it would only be worth a few hundred.
“It’s really heartbreaking for everyone. Drumcliffe is a small community. The sculpture has been there for 15 years. In 2013 a part of it went missing but obviously when whoever took it realised that it was bronze, they tossed it. Similar might happen here so we want people to keep an eye out and contact Gardai if they see anything.”
There’s a €500 cash reward for anyone with information that leads to its safe return.
Gardai are appealing to anyone with information regarding the piece to contact Grange Gardai or Sligo Gardai on 0719157000 or the Garda confidential line 1800666111.