Thieves steal famous sculpture from estate

Thieves with a flatbed truck and a crane on Thursday snatched this two-ton Henry Moore bronze sculpture. The sculpture was valued at more than .2 million.

? Thieves using a flatbed truck and a crane snatched a two-ton Henry Moore bronze of a reclining figure from the grounds of the late sculptor’s foundation north of London, police said Saturday.

The sculpture, valued at more than $5.2 million, was stolen Thursday night from the artist’s Hertfordshire county estate, authorities said in a statement.

Authorities said they were investigating all potential motives for the crime, including the possibility that the thieves planned to melt the sculpture and sell it for scrap.

Police said three thieves brought in a crane to lift the sculpture onto the flatbed truck, then drove away at 10:16 p.m. Thursday.

The theft was filmed by security video.

Moore created some of modern art’s most recognizable sculptures, including large, abstract works cast in bronze or carved from stone, using fractured human forms as metaphors for landscapes.