A PLEA has been made for information after a suspected heritage theft left one of Colchester’s ancient landmarks without its plaque.

A sign which commemorates the Roman Balkerne Gate has been reported stolen after it was snatched by a thief in August.

But after exhausting all possible leads and reporting the theft to the police, Heritage England, and the archaeology officer, Colchester Civic Society has now shared posts on social media asking members of the public to get in touch if they know its whereabouts.

According to Robert Mercer, who looks after the heritage brief for the civic society’s executive committee, the sign could be worth as much as £500.

He said: “Balkerne Gate itself is a heritage site of the greatest level, and the plaque is part of it.

“As far as we can ascertain, the plaque belongs to Heritage England – it was reported to the police and they have closed the case because they can’t find out anything about it.”

Although it is not known exactly how old the sign is, it could date back to the period of the Second World War when it was made by what was then known as the Ministry of Works.

But with the group’s hopes of finding the sign beginning to fade, attention is gradually turning to the prospect of the society raising the funds themselves to replace it.

Mr Mercer added: “The big issue is that there no money to pay to replace it; what we would like to do is find it.

“It’s not made of anything that’s intrinsically valuable – it’s probably made of cast iron or aluminium, but if it can’t be found then we will have to raise money to have it made.

“The council did make efforts to try and find it, but it’s going to cost a serious amount of money at a time when there’s no money to replace it.

“It’s got to be raised by someone like us or by a public donation – or by trying to find someone local would give us some money.”