A wooden owl carving which had been stolen from a park in Great Sutton has been found by police. 

'Ruby', a popular feature in a trail of carved animals at Meadow Park, went missing on the afternoon of Tuesday, January 23. 

Community group The Friends of Meadow Park joined police in issuing repeated appeals for information and called on the thieves to return Ruby to the spot where she had been taken from. 

Ellesmere Port Police confirmed on Friday evening that Ruby had been found, though they did not say how she was discovered.

A short statement read: "We are pleased to report that the owl taken from Meadow Park recently has been recovered this evening. It is at Ellesmere Port Police Station awaiting collection by a member of Friends of Meadow Park. A great result!"

Andrew Moran, a founder member of the Friends of Meadow Park group which raised £12,000 to fund the animal trail, had kept the appeal for Ruby in the public eye with regular updates on Facebook.

He said her return was helped by 'the power of social media'. 

The animals in the trail were made by Wrexham-based chainsaw artist Simon O'Rourke and the Ruby sculpture was the most visible, standing on a pathway close to a wooded area. The sculpture was about 3ft tall, including the wooden trunk and concrete base it stood on.