A bronze monument honouring British soldiers who died liberating France has been stolen, just a week before D-Day anniversary services. The one-tonne statue of a piper from the 51st Highland Division vanished from Bréville-les-Monts, north of Caen, on Friday.
The statue commemorated Scottish infantrymen who landed on Juno Beach on June 6, 1944, and died in fierce fighting days later. Visitors from Britain were due to gather around it next Saturday for the 82nd anniversary of D-Day.
French police have launched a criminal investigation. 'The statue was forced off its plinth and clearly loaded onto a vehicle,' said an investigating source. 'A huge amount of effort went into the planned theft.' An early theory suggests scrap metal dealers intended to smash and sell the bronze.
A spokesman for Bréville-les-Monts town council said: 'It is with great sadness that we discovered the disappearance of the statue. This was a shameful act, just one week before the D-Day commemorations.' The council has filed a report with police in Merville-Franceville.
The statue was erected 15 years ago at Château St Come, where the 51st Highlanders fought alongside the 6th Airborne Division. The Highlanders, mainly from the 5th Battalion Black Watch, lost 110 men in two days securing a bridgehead across the River Orne. The lane to the château became known as 'Death Alley'.
Scottish units were famed for taking pipers into battle, playing tunes like 'Highland Laddie' to boost morale and keep units together. The sound of the pipes was also recalled as frightening by enemy veterans.
