City may offer reward for the return of fishing memorial

Emotions have been running high in the city since the 6ft bronze, which weighs 300 kilos (660lb), went missing from its site on Victoria Pier overlooking the Humber.

The statue, called Voyage, has a sister monument at Vik in Iceland and was installed five years ago to honour links between the two communities forged by the fishing industry.

The Lord Mayor of Hull, Coun Colin Inglis, called the theft “an assault upon the traditions and culture of the city”, and said it was like “throwing paint on the cenotaph”.

Deputy council leader Daren Hale said the authority was considering ordering a replacement if necessary.

He said: “We are considering our options. We may well offer a reward because perversely if we don’t get the thing back it would cost considerably less than what we’d have to pay for a new one.

“If we do need a new one we will be able to pay for it from our insurance reserves. But what we are quite clear about is we can’t have our culture desecrated by metal thieves.”

The council is also carrying out a security review of other public monuments and sculptures in the city.