AN amateur sculptor who spent years perfecting his creations has had them stolen from his garden.

The concrete statues, one of which took four years to complete, were taken from the man's garden in Middleton One Row, near Darlington, last month.

The sculptor, who asked not to be named, said: "The geisha girl took four years to make so I did put in a lot of time and effort.

"It's really heavy and couldn't be lifted by one person.

"The sculptures had been there for a long time so I thought maybe they weren't worth taking. Obviously I was wrong."

The thieves took three oriental-style sculptures - a 27in red geisha girl, a 25in red soldier and a 24in snow lantern.

PC Martin Curry, from Darlington police, said: "We have had quite a few thefts of garden ornaments lately around the Middleton St George and Sadberge area.

" I'd appeal to anyone who may have been offered them for sale or knows anything about them to contact us."

Anyone with information is asked to call PC Curry on (01325) 742127.