Two men have been charged after a Paddington Bear statue was damaged and stolen from a bench. The sculpture was taken from its seat in Northbrook Street, Newbury, Berkshire at about 02:00 GMT on Sunday, according to Thames Valley Police. It was later recovered.

In the heart of a market town, a beloved Paddington Bear statue has been at the centre of a surprising incident that has left locals both shocked and heartbroken.

A Paddington Bear statue, celebrating the children's character as part of a UK-wide trail, has been damaged and stolen from a bench in a Berkshire town, police have said. The sculpture was taken from his seat in Northbrook Street,

Residents of a Berkshire town have celebrated the return of a Paddington Bear statue after it was sliced in two and stolen overnight, police have said. The sculpture, one of a number of Paddington statues dotted across the UK, was taken from a bench in Northbrook Street, Newbury, at about 02:00 GMT Sunday morning, according to Thames Valley Police.

The statue was damaged before the broken piece was stolen shortly after 2am on Sunday, Thames Valley Police said

All that is left of the statue on his bench in Paddington creator Michael Bond's home town [Christopher Gibbins]