WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Security has been tightened around a statue in Wellington's Botanic Gardens after a tip that someone might try to steal it.
Henry Moore's Inner Form is probably New Zealand's most valuable sculpture, the Wellington Dominion Post reported.
The 16 foot bronze sculpture weighs 1.6 tons and estimated to be worth $6 million to $8 million.
A security guard has been posted round-the-clock, watching over the grassy slope where the sculpture stands, the newspaper said.
Wellington City Council chief executive Garry Poole said the action was taken after a council member received information from an art dealer that "someone was going to attempt to steal it".
Henry Moore is rated as one of the 20th century's greatest sculptors and his works are highly valued internationally, the newspaper said.
Poole said the theft of Pania of the Reef in Napier and a $250,000 Paul Dibble sculpture in Waikanae suggested "it's becoming a bit fashionable and I don't want to be part of the fashion."
