A stolen statue of a shpeherd that has been missing for more than a year from Sussex has been found in a horsebox near Dartford.

The statue was discovered in the back of a box in Horton Kirby last Monday, more than a year after it was stolen from Nymans Gardens in Handcross on September 1, 2016.

A 23-year-old man had been convicted of the theft following a Sussex Police investigation but did not reveal the location of the missing statue.

Officers from Kent Police’s Rural Task Force contacted Heritage Watch for help after the statue was found in the rear of a horsebox.

As a result, the loser was identified and the statue has been returned to the Nymans Gardens estate where it is now in secure storage pending conservation work.