QUICK TAKES - May 20, 2009

A stolen Henry Moore statue, valued at $4.6 million, may have been melted down for scrap metal worth less than $3,900, British police said.

U.K. detectives had first worked on the theory that the piece, “Reclining Figure,” was stolen three years ago at the request of an art collector. It has never been found. Officers said they now believe the 2.1-ton work was sold for its metal, highlighting the security risks facing high-value sculptures shown in public.

The 1969-70 bronze, measuring 10 feet long, was stolen from the artist’s foundation at Much Hadham, Hertfordshire, in December 2005. Closed-circuit-television footage showed that the thieves used a crane to lower the statue onto a stolen flatbed lorry.