Priceless statues at a North-East mansion have been vandalised beyond repair. The three figures at the Grade II* listed Lartington Hall, near Barnard Castle, County Durham, had their heads removed and taken away.

A large vase was also smashed during the incident, which happened in the early hours of last Wednesday.

Robin Rackham, owner of the restored 400-year-old building, believes an attempt was made to steal the statues, but was foiled by the hall's sophisticated security system.

He said: "We've put in a very extensive security system in and I think this was an attempt to beat it by doing the job in two or three minutes in a smash and grab raid."

The statues are among 56 at the hall which were carved in the 1860s by artist Robert Borrowdale, who did a lot of work for country landowners in the area.

The statues are pinned down extremely securely and Mr Rackham believe the heads were snapped off when it was realised they could not be removed before the alarms went off.

He said: "The statues are irreplaceable. What's annoying is that they've snapped the heads off and taken them with them out of wanton spite."

Anyone with any information should contact Barnard Castle Police on (01833) 637328.