Alex Trelinski
THREE people have been arrested for stealing bronze statues worth nearly €300,000 from a fountain in the Valencian town of Albalat de la Ribera.
The thieves took them to recycling scrap yards in the region to get unspecified amounts of cash.
Albalat mayor, Jose Antonio Roig, contacted the Guardia Civil on August 5 to report the theft of two bronze figures designed by Manuel Boix valued at up to €95,000 each.
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Two other sculptures suffered damage totalling €18,000.
The mayor was back in contact with the Guardia two days later when a third statue was stolen.
The thieves did not mind making a third return on August 12 when they tried unsuccessfully to steal another statue.
They tried to rip it off its plinth with a tow rope attached to a car which had its number plates covered up.
All of the incidents were recorded on security cameras and just hours later, officers found the vehicle at a metal recycling facility on a Corbera industrial estate.
Inside the car were two brothers and a woman who were caught on CCTV at the fountain.
Both men had existing criminal records for theft.
Guardia officers also visited recycling units in Paterna and Alzira where they recovered two of the stolen sculptures which were returned to Albalat council.
