MURDERING ART: Bronzes stolen and sold for scrap

"Divided Circle" Barbara Hepworth, Getty Images

"Reclining Figure" Henry Moore, H.M Foundation/PA images

'Divided Circle" by Barbara Hepworth, one of Britain's most highly regarded 20th-century sculptors, was stolen from a London Park December 2011. Henry Moores' "Reclining Figure" worth 3 million British Pounds, was also stolen (2005) and sold for 1,500 as scrap metal. These bronzes are part of a theft epidemic in the UK that is said to cost the British economy 700 million a year. Certainly, the tense economical situation is acting as a catalyst for these crimes, but however much the financial losses may be, they cannot compare to the loss our cultural patrimony has suffered. Think of this post as a small obituary for these remarkable works of art, silent victims of the global economic crisis.