AN APPEAL IS being made for the public to help in re-creating two stone lions stolen from a National Trust garden in Co Down.
The limestone lions, which stood at 3ft tall, were removed from their plinths on the driveway into Rowallane Garden in Saintfield, where they’ve been one of the park’s main attractions for years.
The stone lions were reported missing by the National Trust Northern Ireland on 28 December 2016. They were believed to have been stolen from the National Trust headquarters on the Crossgar Road between 23-28 December.
The popular figures from the garden have never been found.
Plans are in place to carve new ornate lions, with the National Trust appealing for the public’s help to re-create the old ones.
The trust is asking people to send photos of the original lions they make have taken before the incident.
“Over the Christmas period the two stone lions which sat pride of place at the entrance to Rowallane Gardens were stolen. To date the lions have not been recovered so we hope to have them re-made,” the organisation wrote in a post on its Facebook page.
“We have some photos of the lions in situ, but to ensure the new ones can be carved as accurately as possible it would be really helpful to build up a wide range of images to work from.
“We hope that some of you have photos of the original lions which you may be willing to share with us.”
Back in December, the National Trust sent out an appeal to find “our missing lions” on their Facebook page.
“On Wednesday 28 December, we reported the theft of two treasured lion sculptures from Rowallane Garden. The limestone sculptures are guardians of Rowallane and shall be greatly missed is not found,” it wrote.
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