'Stolen' statues of Gorbals Boys playing in high heels found

The missing sculptures were spotted by a member of the public on a railway embankment

Bronze statues of boys playing in high heels in Glasgow have been returned after being reported stolen.

Police launched an investigation on Monday after two out of the three Gorbals Boys statues went missing from the corner of Cumberland Street and Queen Elizabeth Gardens.

The sculptures are based on a photograph by Scottish-Italian photographer Oscar Marzaroli.

A member of the public later spotted them abandoned on a railway embankment.

The statues appeared to have been cut at the leg before being removed.

The statues appear to have been cut at the legs

Megan Gray, who used to live in the area, spotted the statues abandoned near a train line while on her way to university.

She said: "I walked past the Gorbals Boys every day for two years and recognised them from the train. I couldn't believe it.

"I'm glad they are going back."

'Connection to Glasgow's history'

The Gorbals Boys were created by local artist Liz Peden, who took inspiration from Marzaroli's photograph taken in the Gorbals in 1963.

Director Fraser Stewart said he was thankful to Ms Gray and was delighted that both works had been returned to the community.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who is the area's MSP, said it was "deeply disappointing to see the... sculptures so horribly vandalised".

She said: "I was lucky enough to unveil the statues a number of years ago, and I know how proud our community is of Liz Peden's creation - which also represent a real connection to Glasgow's history and culture. 

"Whilst Police Scotland investigate the matter, I know that everyone in the community will support the return, as soon as possible, of the Gorbals Boys sculptures to where they belong."

Ms Peden added: "I am relieved to hear that the Gorbals Boys are to be brought back to the Gorbals community where they belong."

Two out of the three Gorbals Boys statues have been reported stolen

The third Gorbals Boy sculpture is being removed until the other two sculptures can be reinstalled.

The £40,000 artwork was unveiled by Ms Sturgeon in 2008 when she was deputy first minister.

Sgt Gary Bone of Gorbals Police Station confirmed the sculptures were found in the Queens Park area on Tuesday after being reported stolen at about 11:25 on Monday.

He said an investigation was ongoing and urged anyone with information to contact Police Scotland.

The Gorbals area of Glasgow was once a by word for slums, gangs and poor living conditions.

Books like No Mean City and films like The Gorbals Story did nothing to dispel the myth.

But as the tenements fell, and the area began to rebuild itself, the community realised art was a way of telling its story, warts and all.

In 1989, the New Gorbals Housing Association was established, and with it the Gorbals Arts Project.

As new housing arrived, so did works of art which reflected the community, old and new.

Some were spectacular, like the Gatekeeper which hangs from the Crown Street complex. As well as the suspended figure which can be seen from the road, the artists Matt Baker and Dan Dubowitz created a "crypt" which contains objects gathered by the community which were burned and interred beneath the work.

Others are smaller, and integrated into the neighbourhood.

The piece of public artwork is based on a photograph by Oscar Marzaroli

In 2021, a work made in 1998 as part of a traffic calming measure, was also damaged at the end of when nine of the pine cone bollards created with artist Cath Keay were stolen.

Megan Gray, the eagle eyed student who spotted the Gorbals Boys while travelling on a train, also helped New Gorbals Housing Association recover another work which most of people hadn't realised was missing.

Kenny Hunter's small sculpture of two figures seated on a sofa was unnamed but nicknamed the Couch Potatoes. Residents noticed it was missing, after images of the damaged Gorbals Boys were shared on social media.

Hunter's other work in the area, Girl with Rucksack, stands on a high pedestal above the Gorbals, hopefully out of harm's way.

The other works have already been returned to the housing association who hope to repair and reinstate them soon.