This is the bizarre moment a brazen thief stuffed a bronze turtle sculpture under his coat and calmly walked out of an art gallery.
The middle-aged crook made off with a bronze artwork – worth around £1,850 – from an art gallery in Stamford, Lincs.
The sculpture, entitled Turtle Duo by acclaimed wildlife artist Stephen Rew, was stolen from Adrian Hill Fine Art at about 2.40pm on October 3.
CCTV captured the suspect wearing a cap with his coat draped over his shoulder.
He appears to be browsing the exhibits before suddenly dashing over to a table and grabbing the turtle statue.
The man conceals the artwork – featuring two turtles swimming side by side – under his coat before leaving the gallery.
Lincolnshire Police have released an image of a man they believe “may have information that could assist us in our investigation”.
The force said: “We are appealing for information to help us identify the man in the image.”
Gallery owner Adrian Hill said the theft was unprecedented in more than two decades of trading.
He said: “We like to think we’re very vigilant, we’ve never had anything taken before. It is just such a brazen act in the middle of the day when other people were in the gallery.”
Mr Hill added he had been in the industry for 23 years and this was the first time anything had been stolen from the gallery.
Artist Stephen Rew was named Wildlife Artist of the Year 2019 by the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation.
According to the gallery’s website, he “dedicates a large portion of his time to working in close proximity to wildlife, where his inspiration is largely derived” and works with conservation charities to “‘do his bit’ and help animals in the natural world.”
A police spokesperson said: “We are appealing for information to help us identify the man in the image. We believe he may have information that could assist us in our investigation.”
Anyone with information should call police quoting reference 26000596082.
