Stolen sculpture may have been destroyed and turned to scrap

A $95,000 Llew Summers sculpture stolen from outside the Mt Pleasant Community Centre may have been cut up and sold for scrap.

Parts of what is thought could be the 2.2 tonne and 2.2m long bronze sculpture, ‘Flight’, were sold to a scrap metal yard.

After buying the scrap, the yard realised it could be the stolen sculpture and contacted police.

Police told The Star they were following “strong lines of inquiry”.

Mt Pleasant Residents’ Association chair Derek McCullough has seen the parts sold to the scrap metal yard and assumes they came from the sculpture. 

But police would not confirm if they had.

The large sculpture depicts a soaring bird above the sea and was stolen in early June.

It was purchased by the centre to honour Summers last year for $95,000 after two years of fundraising by the community.

"We were just devastated,” McCullough said of the theft.

"Ever since then, I've had nothing but calls of commiseration from the community members. It was very meaningful to the community.”

‘Flight’ was Summers’ final work before he died in 2019. His funeral was held at the community centre.

The association committee is now looking into how it can replace the sculpture.

One option is to recreate it with a 3D printer. McCullough said the association was in the early stages of deliberation and was unsure about costs and feasibility.