THE "iconic" Gorbals Boys sculptures which were cut and stolen from their Glasgow home have been found, The National understands.
It comes after this paper first reported that they had gone missing from their home in the Gorbals sometime before Monday morning.
Police confirmed they were investigating, as the First Minister spoke out about the impact of the theft on the community in her constituency.
"It is deeply disappointing to see two of the three iconic Gorbals Boys bronze sculptures so horribly vandalised," Nicola Sturgeon said.
Now, just one day after they were first reported missing, they have been recovered, The National has been told.
It is understood that they were spotted by a passenger on a train who saw them dumped on an embankment.
It was put to this paper that the media attention around the theft meant the sculptures were “too hot” to sell on even as scrap, and so the thieves ditched them.
The sculpture, which featured three young lads trying on their mothers’ shoes, was created by local resident Liz Peden and unveiled by the First Minister in 2008.
Based on an image (shown below) captured by the famed Scots photographer Oscar Marzaroli in the 1960s, the three bronze figures each wore shoes of chrome.
It was later confirmed that Megan Gray, a former Gorbals resident who walked past the sculptures “every day for two years”, spotted them abandoned by a train line on the way to university.
Gray informed the New Gorbals Housing Association (NGHA), which said the sculptures were found alongside another work, Couch Potatoes by Kenny Hunter.
NGHA has removed the third Gorbals Boy, which was not stolen, until the three can all be restored together.
Peden, the local artist who created the sculpture, said she was “relieved to hear that the Gorbals Boys are to be brought back to the Gorbals community where they belong”.
NGHA director Fraser Stewart said: “We are very thankful to Megan and delighted that both the Gorbals Boys and the ‘Couch Potatoes’ are being returned to the community.
“Public and community art are central to the regeneration of the Gorbals and they play a vital role in their celebration of the character and history of the Gorbals.”
Sergeant Gary Bone of Gorbals Police Station said: “Around 11.25am on Monday, 6 February, 2023, officers received a report of the theft of the Gorbals Boys sculptures from Cumberland Street in Glasgow.
“The statues were recovered during the morning of Tuesday, 7 February in the Queens Park area.
“We are grateful for the help from the public which led to the statues being located.
“Enquiries are ongoing and anyone with information about them having been removed can call 101, quoting reference 1107 of 6 February.”
