Stolen six foot Celtic sea god statue found by ramblers

A stolen six-foot Celtic sea god statue has been found by ramblers after it disappeared from a mountainside in Northern Ireland.

The work of art, created by an artist who worked on TV series Game of Thrones, is known as Manannan Mac Lir and was taken from Binevenagh Mountain near Limavady in County Derry last month.

The statue, made of fibre glass and stainless steel, had became a popular tourist attraction in the area since it was constructed about a year earlier and sculptor John Sutton said he was "shocked" by the disappearance.

It was recovered in Binevenagh Forest after ramblers spotted it and alerted troops from the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment who were on a weekend training exercise.

Police Service of Northern Ireland area commander Chief Inspector Alan Hutton appealed for anyone with any information on how it was stolen to get in touch.

An MoD spokesman said:

The soldiers are based at Newtownabbey in Co Antrim, north of Belfast.

Manannan Mac Lir is a sea deity in Irish mythology and is also said to have been the first ruler of the Isle of Man.