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Cheeky statue thieves nab nude
 | | The valuable statue taken from the gallery |
A SCULPTURE of a naked woman worth £1,900 has been stolen from an art gallery in Finsbury by cheeky thieves.
The unique bronze figure was taken from Rainbird Fine Art Gallery, in Clerkenwell Road.
It is believed that a couple walked in and stole the statue by Hungarian artist Scilla Varga from a window ledge in the basement of the gallery.
Gallery manager Ann-Kathrin Durgé said: "It is quite heavy. It weighs a few kilos. It is not an easy thing to take and pretend you don't have it.
"Just the other week David Bailey and his wife came and they quite liked her work. I was very upset about it.
"I want this to be a friendly gallery. It's not a snooty gallery. People are always coming in. That's what we're here for."
The couple arrived at 5.30pm and left about 30 minutes later.
Ms Durgé said: "I was thinking of going home early because it was very hot. But I noticed the couple looking in the window asking to come in. I noticed they were quite interested in the prices.
"They went downstairs and they were ages and then they came up and then went back down. Then they came up and she headed for the door.
"She had quite a large handbag - the kind that many people have these days. He came up to me and distracted me. Then he went out and I thought I'd close up. When I went downstairs to turn the lights off I immediately knew it was gone. We've never had anything like that before."
Rick Goodale, managing director of the gallery, said: "It is the first time we've ever had a theft at the gallery. We recorded this couple on CCTV.
"But I've contacted other galleries and we've now learned that it's quite common. Quite often a couple will come in appearing to be a little drunk and one of them will distract staff while the other is downstairs."
The man was in his late 30s or early 40s, about 5ft 4ins tall with receding brown hair. He was wearing a distinctive yellow striped T-shirt. The woman was in her late 30s, about 5ft 2ins tall and had collar length dark brown hair.
The sculpture is called Bond and is signed and numbered by Hungarian artist Scilla Varga. It was also for sale on the art trading website www.artbank.com. Call Islington police on 020 7421 0220 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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