Overview
- The life-size bronze statue was taken from its plinth in Langdon Park on Sunday evening, leaving only the boxing boots behind where it appears to have been cut at the ankles.
- CCTV shows four suspects dressed in black with covered faces wiggling the statue free without visible tools, loading it onto a three-wheel cargo bike, and covering it with a high-vis jacket.
- The suspects were last seen traveling northbound toward Bromley-by-Bow, and detectives say no arrests have been made.
- Police urged anyone with information to call 101 quoting CAD 6133/1Feb or contact Crimestoppers anonymously.
- Erected in 2014 after a fundraising campaign led by grandson Martin Sax, the roughly £100,000 sculpture by the late Carl Payne is feared to be targeted for scrap, and the family is exploring recasting if it cannot be recovered.