Three Glenrothes public artworks that disappeared mysteriously have been found more than a month later – in a council storage depot.
Fife Council officials had been left scratching their heads when the slabs, featuring poetry, went missing from Glenwood shopping precinct in January.
Police even launched an investigation into their disappearance with the local authority admitting it had no idea where they had gone.
Artworks returned to Fife Council archive
But Fife Council has now confirmed the slabs – created by former town artist David Harding – have been traced to one of its own storage facilities, understood to be run by the street cleansing team.
It is still unclear why the slabs were removed from Glenwood, which is being prepared for redevelopment.
But the artworks have now been retuned to the council’s archive at Bankhead for safekeeping.
Norman Laird, community manager for the Glenrothes area, said: “They’d been spotted and moved from the site by someone from another council team not involved in the project, who took them to a council facility for safe keeping.
“As soon as we were made aware of their location, we arranged for the slabs to be moved to the council’s archive centre where they’ll be kept until we’re ready to relay them as part of the new development.
Council ‘sorry’ over missing slabs
“We know the affection and pride that Glenrothes has for the town’s public art and people were rightly concerned when the slabs couldn’t be found.
“Whilst I’m pleased that there’s been a positive outcome, I’m sorry that we couldn’t confirm that they were in safe hands any sooner.
“We’ll review the process for the logging, maintaining and relocating public art in Glenrothes to avoid this happening again.”
It is thought the works – which are inscribed with poems from Scottish poets Sydney Goodsir Smith, Hugh MacDiarmid and Douglas Young – were taken on or around January 8.
Former Fife Council lawyer Andrew Ferguson had offered a cash reward for information which may lead to the artworks being handed back.
He says their return is “the best possible news for Glenrothes”.
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