A PRICELESS bust, commissioned in memory of the Second Viscount Leverhulme, has been stolen from a family plot in the grounds of a Wirral church.

The portrait bronze bust, created by renowned artist Sir Charles Wheeler after the death of William Hulme Lever, son of the founder of the Port Sunlight village, was discovered missing on Wednesday.

Police say their investigation into the theft of the life-size sculpture is “at an early stage” but have appealed to witnesses or anyone who may have been offered the bust to contact them.

The bust was part of a family plot in the grounds of Christ Church and, although hollow, is a life-size bronze representation of the former Viscount.

Christ Church secretary Chris Maple said it was unlikely to have been stolen to sell as it is, and it is feared it might have been taken by someone who is planning to melt it down and sell the metal as scrap.

He said: “It’s difficult to say how valuable it is because there is only one of them, but created by a well-known artist of the time.

“It was taken from the Lever family tomb, where it had been since the 1950s.

“After the Second Viscount died, the family commissioned the artist Sir Charles Wheeler, one of the most famous sculptors of the time, to create the bronze bust.”

Artist Sir Charles Wheeler was the first sculptor to be elected President of the Royal Academy, a position he held from 1956 to 1966.

Other works by him include a fountain sculpture in front of the Lady Lever Art Gallery, in Port Sunlight, similar to his work for the Trafalgar Square memorial. He is also known for creating the five pairs of 20 ft bronze doors for the Bank of England and other sculptural work for the bank in the City of London.