£10,000 statue of poet Lord Byron stolen from Kent estate

An "extremely heavy" four-foot statue of one of Britain's greatest poets has been snatched from the grounds of a stately home in Kent.

The marble tribute to Lord Byron, valued at £10,000, was taken from Godmersham Park between midnight and 5am on Wednesday, police said.

It depicts the poet, famed for works including Don Juan and She Walks in Beauty, as a child clutching a book, with a cricket propped up beside him.

A spokeswoman for Kent Police said: "The statue is extremely heavy and would have required a number of people to manoeuvre it."

Contact detectives on 01843 222289 with any information.