Police in Inverness have been alerted after a work of art by a renowned Scottish sculptor went missing at a charity exhibition.
Scottish sculptor Helen Denerley had crafted a bird sculpture for charity Centred, which went missing at Eden Court Theatre.
Helen Denerley, best known for her large metal giraffes on Leith Walk in Edinburgh, created a bird sculpture in collaboration with Centred, the Highlands’ largest mental health charity.
It formed Centred’s contribution to the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival and is estimated to be worth around £850.
The metal bird sculpture was due to be sold after the exhibition, held at the city’s Eden Court Theatre, with money raised supporting Centred Scotland’s free mental health and wellbeing services across the Highlands.
It was on display in the theatre’s upper floor as part of the exhibition celebrating creativity and mental health.
Centred Scotland is appealing to the local community for any information that may lead to finding the missing sculpture.
They say the situation has been reported to Police Scotland, who are aware of what has happened.
Scottish sculptor Helen Denerley had crafted a bird sculpture for charity Centred, which went missing at Eden Court Theatre.
The charity hopes CCTV at the theatre may help to establish what happened to the sculpture.
Meantime, Centred are still hopeful that the sculpture can be returned without police action.
Anyone with information about the sculpture is asked to contact hello@centred.scot
A spokesperson for the charity said: “We don’t know the story behind why it was taken, and we want to approach the situation with kindness and understanding.
“We just ask whoever has the sculpture to consider returning it.
“There’s no judgement from us. We would just be grateful to have it back so it can still help make a difference to people’s lives, as intended.
“It was a well-admired piece at the exhibition opening, and we were hoping that through its sale, we would be able to raise some essential funds for our non-statutory funded services that rely solely on donations and fundraising.
“If you’ve seen it, or know anything about where it might be, we’d really appreciate you getting in touch.
“We’d love to see it safely returned.”