Moment thieves tear down and steal bronze statue of British boxing champion from London park – as police launch appeal to find gang

This is the moment brazen thieves destroyed and stole a £100,000 bronze statue of a champion British boxer.

In the newly released footage, four suspects dressed in black and with their faces covered can be seen dismantling the ‘Pride of the Poplars’ Teddy Baldock monument.

He became the UK’s youngest boxing world champion when he captured the bantamweight crown in 1927, aged just 19, and in 2014 the statue was erected in Langdon Park in Poplar, east London, where he grew up.

Baldock’s grandson Martin Sax, who spearheaded the campaign and raised £100,000 for the statue, told the Daily Mail today he feared the ‘toerags’ behind the theft had already melted the statue down.

The Metropolitan Police has stepped up efforts to catch the criminals, including the release of CCTV footage from shortly after 8pm last Sunday.

Four suspects are seen at the scene, all dressed in black, with their faces covered, freeing the statue from its stone pedestal.

They then placed him on a cargo tricycle and covered him with a high-vis jacket. Scotland Yard said no tools were seen being used.

The suspects were last seen heading north towards Bromley-by-Bow Underground station; The theft occurred near Langdon Park station on the Docklands Light Railway.

The bronze statue in honor of Teddy Baldock was unveiled in Langdon Park in Poplar in 2014.

Teddy Baldock became England’s youngest boxing world champion when he captured the bantamweight crown in 1927, aged just 19.

Det Supt Oliver Richter, responsible for neighborhood policing in Tower Hamlets, east London, said this afternoon: ‘We understand that it is a very sad time for members of our community to see the monument to a local hero treated in this way.

‘I want to reassure the public that our officers are working rapidly to identify those responsible and will continue to pursue every possible line of inquiry.

‘We would appeal to anyone with information to contact police.’

The raiders left behind only the statue’s metal boots.

Mr Sax, 56, from Minehead in Somerset, told the Daily Mail how ‘gutted out’ he felt, while also welcoming the outpouring of public sympathy following the loss.

Baldock is considered Britain’s youngest world boxing champion after his victory over US fighter Archie Bell at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 1927.

The news that the statue was stolen was shared on Facebook only with his grandson, Sax.

And he has since made calls via social media, saying ‘time is of the essence’.

After thieves attacked Kavak Park overnight, only metal boots remained

A tribute to Teddy Baldock, known as the ‘Pride of the Poplars’, was next to the statue

He posted: ‘I am completely heartbroken to find out last night that thieves have stolen my grandfather’s statue from its location in Poplar, East London.

‘Low-life jerks will get their scrap metal value and years of hard work will be gone in a matter of weeks.

‘I cannot express in words the anger I feel towards those responsible.’

He also suggested there might be ‘a scrap metal dealer somewhere willing to melt down this historic work of art’, adding: ‘Hold your head in shame.’

Mr Sax told the Daily Mail today he feared the statue would be scrapped anyway, but warned ‘the word’ had been passed on to potential dealers.

He said: ‘There was such a reaction on social media.

‘But I woke up this morning and think it would have melted by now.

‘The people who buy this have no conscience. They just see the value. But they might be lucky enough to get a few thousands of pounds.

Four suspects were filmed at the scene in Langdon Park, Poplar; They were all dressed in black, their faces covered, and they were moving the statue by freeing it from its stone pedestal.

Teddy Baldock’s grandson Martin Sax shared a photo of the scene where the stolen statue was found

British bantamweight boxer Teddy Baldock was photographed striking a sparring pose at the Dyers Gymnasium on the Strand in central London on 3 April 1927, days before his title fight.

A local resident is seen looking at what remains of the statue in Langdon Park

The bronze boots still stand on the pedestal erected in 2014

‘I have a lot of contacts in the boxing world and they have contacts in the scrap metal world too.

‘Word spread that all dealers should be suspicious of a new piece of bronze coming to them.’

But he also expressed his regret, having run a fundraising campaign 12 years ago to have the statue built in Baldock’s honor and erected in its place.

Fundraising efforts included running the London Marathon, reaching out to family and supporters, and selling mock-ups of the proposed statue.

Mr Sax, who spent 25 years in the Royal Marines after joining the Royal Marines at 17, said: ‘That was my aim and commissioning this statue was the same thing. “This was a passion for me.”

Following the theft and the sympathetic reaction on social media to the loss of this statue, he added: ‘If this was a statue of a politician from 100 years ago, would people care?

‘But this was a working-class kid from the East End who turned professional as a boxer through heavy corruption.

‘He won a championship at Albert Hall, fought at Madison Square Gardens and others across America. And now some toerags have cut it down.’

‘The Pride of the Poplars’ Teddy Baldock is seen training here in London on February 14, 1928.

The monument stood near Langdon Park station on the Docklands Light Railway.

Tower Hamlets council and Metropolitan Police appeal for information about burglary

Baldock has fought at venues such as London’s Royal Albert Hall and New York’s Madison Square Garden.

The year he beat Bell at the Albert Hall, the Times called him ‘by far the fastest and brightest boxer of his weight’.

He was said to have been penniless when he died in Rochford, Essex, in March 1971, aged 63.

Tower Hamlets council, the local authority responsible for the park where the theft occurred, said: ‘We were shocked to hear that the Teddy Baldock statue had been stolen from Langdon Park.

The ‘Poplar Pride’ statue is an important part of the district’s history and means a lot to our community.

‘We are examining our CCTV cameras as part of the police investigation in the hope that we can find the statue and catch the criminals.’

Anyone with any information is urged by police to call 101, quoting CAD 6133/1Feb, or to contact independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.