Sculptor delighted as stolen animal heads found

Four of the nine wooden animal head sculptures have been found, their sculptor said

A sculptor says it is "unbelievable" several pieces of artwork which were stolen from a farm have been found in "fairly good nick".

Brendan Rawlings created a set of wooden animal head sculptures for a walking trail on Darts Farm in Topsham, Devon, which were then removed from their plinths in July 2024.

A search for the artworks - which had been displayed at Glastonbury Festival before being taken to the farm - had been ongoing.

Mr Rawlings said he was delighted when he received a phone call on Tuesday saying four of the nine heads had been found in a bin in Exeter.

The nine wooden heads were removed from plinths they had been put on

Mr Rawlings told BBC Radio Devon a man who ran a residential housing complex had found them in black plastic bags stuffed into a waste disposal unit.

"I then got a call from a mate of mine who is a police officer who said 'we've got four of your sculptures here', so they have found four of them," Mr Rawlings said.

"Where they've been for a year, I don't know, but we've got four out of nine which is a start."

He added the heads appeared to be in "fairly good nick" and was looking forward to their return.