A 200-year-old military staff held by a statue of King Henry V has been stolen from Monmouth's Shire Hall.
The oak baton, originally brought to Monmouth with the statue in 1792, has been restored and gold-leafed over the past couple of weeks, and was only put back in place last Friday (14th May).
Shire Hall project manager Keith Davies said the staff has no resale value.
"It could have stolen by someone who thought there was some resale value in it, or it could be someone messing about," said Mr Davies.
"There were no left ladders in front of the building so they must have shimmied up the scaffolding," he added.
Workers on the site noticed the baton was missing at around 8pm on Monday (17th May).
"Shire Hall stewards saw it wasn't there on Sunday but thought we had taken it down for further restoration," Mr Davies added.
"We are not looking to prosecute anyone, we just it back."
Anyone with information is asked to contact Monmouthshire County Council's One Stop Shop in Monmouth on 01600 775200.