A First World War memorial is believed to have been stolen from a Barnet car park.
The statue, titled ‘The Tommy Silhouette’, is believed to have been removed between Friday 18 and Saturday 19 October from Lodge Lane in North Finchley.
Private John Henry Parr, who is memorialised by the statue, lived on the road and is believed to have been the first soldier from the British Empire to die during the First World War.
Tim Stevenson, treasurer of the Lodge Lane N12 Residents’ Association, said: “Vandals or thieves, in either case it’s a heartless desecration of a moving memorial to someone who sacrificed his life for the country.”
The disappearance was first reported to the Residents’ Association by the nearby Northside School and is believed to have been damaged before being removed.
Martin Russell, chairman of Barnet War Memorials Association, said he had been told a large white transit van advertising double glazing was seen trying to exit the car park near the statue on the evening of Friday 18 October.
Parr was born in Barnet in 1897 and died aged 17 at Obourg, near Mons in Belgium, in 1914.
He joined the 4th Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment in 1912 aged just 15 but claimed to be over 18, the minimum age for enrolment.
After his death, Parr was buried in the German-British Saint-Symphorien military cemetery in Belgium.
The age on his gravestone is 20, as the army was unaware of his real age at the time of his death.
The Lodge Lane memorial was unveiled in 2019, having been donated by John Seigal to the Barnet War Memorials Association.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said: “On Monday 21 October we received a report of the theft of statue in North Finchley.
“Enquiries are ongoing into the circumstances.”
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact police.
Featured image: Google 2022
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