A LIFE-SIZED statue of golf legend Seve Ballesteros has gone missing from his Spanish hometown.
The statue, which had commemorated the five-time major winner, who died of brain cancer in 2011 at 54, has vanished from Pedrena in northern Spain.
Ballesteros helped Europe win four Ryder Cups as a player, and later as captain, with the statue depicting the moment that he famously celebrated victory at the Open Championship at St Andrews in 1984.
During this Championship, Ballesteros was trailing Tom Watson in the final round but managed to make a comeback, winning two shots and claiming the Claret Jug. In doing so he denied Watson a third successive Open.
Having been created in 2009 by sculptor Salvador Garcia Ceballos and been permanently installed in La Barqueria Park for almost a decade, the statue marked the career of one of Spain’s most prolific golfers.
Now, with it having disappeared from the Cantabria town, the council are searching for the statue’s whereabouts.
“If anyone has observed suspicious movements, especially in the last 24 hours, please let the Guardia Civil or the Policia Local know,” they have said.
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