Home Page Haverhill News

The disappearance of the shiny brass globe finials on Haverhill's unique gates to Queen Street, within a fortnight of their high-profile launch was not, as has been suggested, the work of desperate brass monkeys.

Some of the eight balls on the smaller gates were stolen, of which some have been recovered, and others were taken away for safe keeping after the initial theft. Those on the larger gates are intact.

The balls were screwed on at the opening ceremony by some of the town primary school children who had worked on producing the gates as part of a community project.

They were then fixed in a way which should have prevented anyone being able to remove them, according to Cllr Karen Richardson, chairman of Public Art in the Town Centre of Haverhill (PATCH), the group which oversaw the project.

However, the designers had reckoned without the ingenuity of thieves, and within two weeks the first one had disappeared, to be followed by others, and then all the rest.

Cllr Richardson said some had been removed for safe keeping, while some of those stolen had been found by local traders.

Those still missing would be replaced and in the meantnime the threads left on the gates had been capped off for safety reasons.

"I am very disappointed that, with such a lovely project which the children had enjoyed so much, some people should decide to spoil it," she said. "It is sad that a few should want to spoil it for the rest."

Cllr Richardson said there had been a lot of praise for the new gates from all generations, young and old, although there had also been some who had not liked them, which was normal with public art because it was a subjective thing.

"They cost a fraction of what they really should have cost because schoolchildren designed them and so many people gave their time freely to work on them, which saved thousands," she said.

"We will not be giving up and the brass balls will be back - and we'll secure them harder this time!"

St Edmundsbury Borough Council had reported the thefts, Cllr Richardson said, and CCTV footage of the area was being examined.