Art Theft Writ Large

It can’t be easy to make off with a bronze sculpture that measures 3.5 meters long, and better than one meter high. But that’s exactly what someone (or, more accurately, three someones and a crane) have done with a Henry Moore sculpture north of London. The theft took place Thursday night, and officials at the Henry Moore Foundation are afraid that the thieves could be planning to melt the work down to sell as scrap metal, since it would be difficult if not impossible to sell as is. The sculpture, entitled “A Reclining Figure,” is valued at $5.3 million.