19/11/2014

Thieves Target Commemorative Ceramic Poppies

Commemorative ceramic poppies that were "planted" at the Tower of London to mark the deaths of soldiers during World War One are being targeted by thieves.

The display – made up of 888,246 ceramic poppies – is currently being removed by thousands of volunteers following the end of the exhibition on 12th November.

However, the artist behind the work, Paul Cummins, told the BBC thieves have been trying to break into lorries where the removed poppies are being stored.

Once removed from the moat at the Tower, the poppies are dismantled and transported to a distribution centre to be cleaned and packaged before being shipped to people who have paid £25 to own one.

Mr Cummins claims the poppies have been targeted since they started to appear at the Tower. He said that while he understood people wanted them, the full number have already been sold and no more would be produced, as the total number of almost 900,000 represented the total number of British and ally deaths during the war.

Proceeds from the sale of the poppies are to be shared between six service charities, including Help for Heroes and the Royal British Legion.

(MH/JP)

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