HAMPSHIRE Police are appealing for information after some 100 square metres of York slabs were stolen from a garden near Alton.
Overnight between Thursday and Friday, January 11 and 12 a large amount of stone paving was taken from a garden of a home in East Worldham.
It is believed the slabs would have had to have been loaded onto a vehicle by several people to enable a theft of this scale.
A number of paving slabs were lifted but left behind which suggests the offenders had stopped loading them once their vehicle was full.
Good quality York stone is valued at about £100 per square metre. These stones were laid in place when by the owner’s great-grandmother who was living there in about 1917, more than 100 years ago.
They are beautifully weathered and many have picturesque lichen on them, others some moss. They vary in size from as little as about 30cm by 25cm to twice that size.
They are all different, but almost all are rectangles. They have worn over the years so some are no longer flat but are bowed towards the middle. They are typically about 4cm thick.
PC Stephen Rogerson said: “This is a rare and unusual theft and we suspect the slabs were either stolen for resale or for a landscaping development.
“You may have been offered these stones or seen them advertised for sale.
"There is sentimental value within these slabs and they are uniquely weathered, so please contact us if you have any information that would assist us in locating them.”
Call 101 and quote 44180014286
Alternatively, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 and leave information anonymously.