Thieves made off with an enormous worth £60,000 stolen from the grounds of a world-renowned artist.

''La Promesse' was from artist Anne Curry's home in Arkesden, Saffron Walden, overnight between December 5 and December 6. The sculpture, which has a manufacturing value of around £20,000, had a sale price of £60,000 and is signed by Curry. Police have said no arrests have been made but officers are pursuing several lines of enquiry.

Curry's work has been featured in global exhibitions and she has also sculpted busts of the UK's leading statesmen, including former prime minister and former member of parliament Michael Heseltine.

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Anne Curry has since spoken out on the theft, which has left her "upset". Curry, 82, told the PA News agency: "The person who stole that one had been in the garden and systematically knocked on the sculptures to see which one was in bronze. It’s just unbelievable, it’s extraordinary.

"I had been away for the day because of a funeral in Warwick and I returned in the evening to see the sculpture had gone. It had obviously happened in the night. They obviously had visited the site before. I have 15 to 20 sculptures in this garden, and almost all of them are resins because it’s safer for theft, and it’s safer to transport.

"The person who stole that one had been in the garden and systematically knocked on the sculptures to see which one was in bronze." She added the incident has affected her sense of security, adding: "There’s a feeling of hidden threat. When you live in a village you love, you don’t think of that, you don’t think of the environment as threatening, and it’s very upsetting to discover that there is a threat."

Curry has since labelled La Promesse as one of her "most successful pieces" and says she is "very attached to it". It has been almost a month since the statue disappeared. PC Glenn Simons, who is leading the investigation, said: 'I do not underestimate the impact this theft has had on the victim, and we will work determinedly to pursue all reasonable lines of enquiry.

"I would also urge anyone who may have information about any suspicious vehicles or suspicious behaviour in the Arkesden area on the evening of Thursday 5 December and the early hours of Friday 6 December to please come forward." Essex Police have also asked anyone with information to come forward.