Two men admit stealing artwork from Hertfordshire

Two men have admitted stealing a Henry Moore sculpture from Hertfordshire worth half a million pounds.

Liam Hughes, 22, and 19-year-old Jason Parker both pleaded guilty to stealing the sundial sculpture and the sculpture's bronze plinth at St Albans Crown Court.

The Sundial, created by Moore in 1965 as a working model for a larger sculpture, was taken from the grounds of the Henry Moore Foundation in Much Hadham in July.

The artwork was found after a TV appeal for information.

The Sundial is among a string of works by the abstract artist, who died in 1986 aged 88, to be targeted by thieves in recent years.

Hughes and Parker, both of Coltsfield, Stansted, Essex, were bailed to reappear at Luton Crown Court on December 4 for sentencing.