First edition of Garcia Marquez novel stolen in Bogota

The book was stolen from the Macondo pavilion at the International Book Fair in Bogota

A signed first edition of the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude by the late Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez has been stolen.

It was being exhibited in a locked cabinet at the International Book Fair in the Colombian capital, Bogota.

The fair, which closes on Monday, is dedicated to Garcia Marquez, who died last year at the age of 87.

The book is estimated to be worth $60,000 (£40,000) but its owner says for him its value is immeasurable.

Key piece

It disappeared on Saturday afternoon from a locked cabinet at the Corferias exhibition centre in Bogota where it was being exhibited as part of the book fair.

The fair, one of the most important in Latin America, had at its theme Macondo, the fictional Colombian town where One Hundred Years of Solitude is set.

The fair was dedicated to the memory of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and his fictional town of Macondo

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982, was Colombia's most famous and critically acclaimed author.

Following his death in Mexico in April of last year, first editions of his novels have risen in value.

Alvaro Castillo, who trades in rare books, said he purchased the 1967 first edition of One Hundred Years of Solitude in a bookshop in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, in 2006.

Garcia Marquez later signed the copy and dedicated it to Mr Castillo with the words: "To Alvaro Castillo, the old-book seller, as yesterday and forever, your friend, Gabo."

Mr Castillo would not say how much he paid for the copy or how much more it would be worth with the dedication, but stressed that to him it was priceless.

Police are reviewing video footage from the exhibition centre in the hope of discovering who may be behind the theft.