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A much-missed gorilla statue called Gary has been discovered in a layby and reunited with its owners a year after being stolen.
The 8ft-tall fibreglass model made headlines after it was snatched from a garden centre in Lanarkshire in March 2023.
But owner Andrew Scott, from Reynard Nursery in Carluke, was shocked after road maintenance firm Bear Scotland contacted him on social media to say they had found the gorilla in a layby in Dundee on Friday.
Although the statue looked intact in photos, when Scott went to collect Gary was disappointed to find it had been cut in half leaving only the back of the statue remaining.
He told The Independent it was a “major shame” that “the whole front half was missing”.
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Andrew Scott said it was a “major shame” that the front half was still missing
" srcset="https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/03/26/13/Screenshot%20%2865%29.png?quality=75&width=320&auto=webp 320w, https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/03/26/13/Screenshot%20%2865%29.png?quality=75&width=640&auto=webp 640w" src="https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/03/26/13/Screenshot%20%2865%29.png" data-gallery-length="3" class="i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content" pinger-seen="true">
Andrew Scott said it was a “major shame” that the front half was still missing
(Andrew Scott )
He said: “I think the reason for that is because [it] could not get in through normal conventional doors.”
The back half of the gorilla will be displayed inside the garden centre in the indoor jungle area, and will be positioned as though he is looking into the distance.
Mr Scott hopes the other half will eventually be found.
He added: “With the additional publicity it might help get the other half back. I’ve been out and bought some Gorilla Glue in case it turns up.”
Gary the Gorilla was found hidden in bushes in a layby
(Bear Scotland/PA)
Andy Moir, one of the Bear Scotland team, said: “We were out on our usual morning route inspection when we spotted something lurking in the bushes at the back of a layby.
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“When we pulled in to check it out, we were pretty shocked to see a gorilla’s bum staring us in the face.”
CCTV footage from the night Gary was stolen showed him being unbolted from where he stood at 10.30pm.
Two hours later a van approached to remove him from the garden centre, and was last seen heading in the direction of Glasgow.
The owner’s hopes were raised after a similar-looking statue was found strapped to the back of a trailer on the motorway near Warwick a few weeks after the theft.
But it was later confirmed the statue was not Gary, after police mapped out the gorilla’s movements, and that it was one of several versions made by the manufacturer.
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1/ 3Huge gorilla statue found cut in half a year after being stolen
Huge gorilla statue found cut in half a year after being stolen
Andrew Scott said it was a “major shame” that the front half was still missing
Credit: Andrew Scott
Huge gorilla statue found cut in half a year after being stolen
Gary the Gorilla was found hidden in bushes in a layby
Huge gorilla statue found cut in half a year after being stolen
Gary the gorilla was found cut in half, with the front half of the statue still missing
Andrew Scott
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