A BRASS owl which sat on top of Braintree’s Market Place fountain has disappeared.

The owl and vole centrepiece was added following a £692,000 restoration project in 2005 but has now gone missing. It is not known who removed the ornamental animal statuette or why.

The mystery was brought to the attention of the Braintree & Witham Times by a reader earlier this month.

A spokesman for Braintree Council said: “We have made Essex Police aware of the missing owl at the top of the statue in Braintree Market Square and we are looking into the costs of replacing it.”

Police are investigating.

The fountain, in Market Square, Braintree, was donated to the town in 1882 by George Courtauld.

Originally used as drinking fountain for humans as well as horses and smaller animals, in 2005, the fountain received a complete restoration as part of a joint project to revamp Market Place and Great Square.

The project was paid for by Braintree Council, Essex County Council, Freeport Braintree and Braintree Civic Society.

When the newly restored fountain was installed, a brass finial, or centrepiece, of an owl and a vole was placed on top of the fountain.

The figure has been removed from the top of the fountain before, and in 2008 officers returned the statue to the council after it had been cut off of the fountain and was found lying on the ground.

Any witnesses to the removal call Essex Police on 101.