Thieves have taken the bull by the horns - literally - by stealing a popular life-size model of a Highland cow from a field near Dunblane.
The model - named Windy - was taken in the early hours of Friday morning, November 4, and possibly last spotted on the back of a tipper truck.
Now Windy’s owner, local artist Sarah Spofforth-McOuat, is appealing to people to keep an eye out for the unmistakable sculpture, which usually can be seen at Mains of Balhaldie from the A9 southbound.
She told the Observer: “Windy was put there as a bit of a landmark as no one could ever find our farm, my art gallery and workshop - plus she became a bit of A9 fun to put a smile on people’s faces.
“Unfortunately on Friday, early in the morning, a bunch of thieves decided to steal her.
“They managed to remove her from the concrete she was thunder bolted into and lifted her over two fences. She was then dragged along the grass verge to their getaway vehicle in plain sight of oncoming A9 traffic.
“I have had really good response on my Facebook page with two possible sightings. The police have also been informed so I’m hoping A9 CCTV may help.
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“She was a bit of fun. She had been dressed up for the Jubliee, Halloween and she was going to get dressed up for Christmas.
“We are hoping that the more people know about her, the more she becomes too hot to handle.
“One of the sightings was a Highland cow strapped to the back of a tipper truck heading to Dundee at 8.30am that day.”
“I’m really annoyed and upset. I can’t quite believe the blatantness of people as it’s right on the A9.”
Windy has been in the field since the spring of this year.
“I got her off Horn imports and I think it’s a fibre glass/resin mould with steel supports - but I painted her up and decorate her for different events,” added Sarah.
“A lot of people say they are gutted as she made them smile.
“She is quite distinctive as she had a broken horn, I had adapted the face and there is possibly damage to the feet now as it was removed from concrete.”
Police say the theft occurred some time between 8pm on Thursday, November 3, and 8.30am on Friday, November 4. Anyone with any information can contact police on 101, quoting incident number 1365 of November 4.
