Appeal for return of historic books stolen from Falkland Palace

Two historic books described as “irreplaceable” have been stolen from Falkland Palace in Fife.

The tomes dating back to the middle of the 19th century were taken some time during the 24 hours from 7am on Wednesday, May 24.

They are volumes XII and XIII of The New Statistical Account of Scotland, published in 1845 by William Blackwood and Sons.

A spokesperson for Police Scotland said: “These books are historical and are invaluable and irreplaceable.”

No images of the books were available, but police released pictures of volumes from the same series.

The stolen volume XII has Aberdeen written on the spine and volume XIII, Banff-Elgin-Nairn.

Each book contains a plate detailing that the books were presented to the National Trust for Scotland by Sir Edward Reid in 1961.

However, if someone was looking to sell these on, the plates may have been removed.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident number 1739 of June 16.