Sixty-six-year-old city sculpture vandalised

Scott Duffin discovered the Naiad sculpture had been snapped from its screws and moved

A 66-year-old sculpture has been removed for safety after being snapped from its mounts in a city-centre pool.

The vandalism of the Naiad in Coventry's Upper Precinct was discovered by tour guide Scott Duffin and has been reported to police.

Mr Duffin said the life-sized depiction of a water nymph had been moved from its original position and was "just sitting waiting to be carried away".

"I think its disgraceful," he said. "Our heritage is our artefacts and we should be looking after them and not destroying them."

The vandalism comes after a murdered police officer's memorial plaque was found smashed in the city earlier this month.

George Wagstaffe's sculpture, made in fibreglass in 1958, was replaced in bronze in the 1980s.

It has had various homes in the city and was relocated to the Upper Precinct during City of Culture celebrations in 2021.

The sculpture was previously tethered to a higher point in the pool by screws, which have been removed

The city council said it was aware the Naiad had been detached from its fixings and staff are checking CCTV footage.

"In the meantime we are removing her to ensure she is safe until we can arrange to get her back into place, securely fixed," a spokesperson added.

Describing what had seen, Mr Duffin said: "It was a bit further back up in the pool but... it's been snapped from [the attachments] and it is now down the bottom.

"Quite easily now one to two people could just pick it up and walk away with it if they wanted to."

West Midlands Police called it a "shocking incident of criminal damage" and appealed for anyone with information to get in touch.