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Soldier silhouette believed stolen from town

Ken Whitehead A thin, black metal silhouette statue of a soldier leaning on a rifle is held up on grass by four strings. It stands next to a large granite stone with a memorial plaque on it. There is a red poppy on the statue. In the background, the church is illuminated by red floodlights.Ken Whitehead
The silhouette was specially-made for the town's Armistice Day celebrations

The chair of a Warwickshire town's Armistice Day parade says he believes a specially-made soldier statue has been stolen.

The 4ft (1.2m) statue, which depicts a Tommy - or soldier - leaning on a rifle, is one of several made for Bedworth's Remembrance Day parade, and was reported missing on Saturday.

Ken Whitehead said police had been informed, and the rest of the silhouettes around the town had been taken down as a precaution.

"It looks like they’ve been stolen, which leaves me flabbergasted because of what they meant to me and what they meant to... a lot of people in Bedworth," he said.

Mr Whitehead said two statues originally disappeared from the market town but one reappeared on Sunday.

The still-missing Tommy was situated on grass near All Saints Church, next to a memorial stone for Frank Parsons, a local Royal Marine commander who was once responsible for Armistice Day memorials in the town.

The town has been marking Armistice Day since 1921.

“We were thinking about leaving them out permanently, because Bedworth is a town that never forgets, and these were magnificent things," he told BBC Coventry and Warwickshire.

"It’s an utter disgrace."

He added that CCTV footage of the church grounds would be checked, and made a plea for the soldier's return.

"Let’s hope it’s kids messing about and they’ve been and chucked them somewhere."

"If you just return them to the Almshouses or the church, we’ll just turn a blind eye to what’s happened," he said.

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