A bronze kangaroo sculpture designed by highly regarded artist Hermann Hohaus on display in the courtyard of the former Downer Primary School is gone.

The item is not only a cherished keepsake of local residents but could be very valuable. Hohaus sculptures are held in most state gallery collections across Australia.

The former Downer Primary School is set for redevelopment and the site has been unused for years. It was first noticed the sculpture had been taken on Boxing Day at the end of last year.

Many assumed the government had removed the artefact ahead of the planned redevelopment so community members did not report it missing to police.

Land Development Agency chief executive David Dawes confirmed the statue had been stolen.

He said it was to be relocated to a restored Downer’s Bicentennial Square ahead of demolition of the school expected to take place in May.

“As you can imagine, both the Land Development Agency project team, and the Downer community, were devastated when it was discovered that this iconic statue had been stolen,” Mr Dawes said.

“Members of the project team met with representatives of the Downer Community Association and it was unanimously agreed that the most appropriate course of action was for a replica of the statue to be commissioned and that the replica would then take its rightful place as centrepiece of the restored square.

“Fortunately, members of the Downer Community Association have some excellent photographs of the statue and the LDA is now seeking to commission an artist to create the replica,’’ Mr Dawes said.

Former student Penny Verdich, who attended the school in the mid ‘60s, said she remembered the bronze kangaroo sculpture was in a beautiful courtyard where students were seldom allowed to tread.

“I was shocked to hear that it had disappeared,’’ she said. “It is a shame.

“It is a special part of Downer’s history.’’

Arts ACT had no record of the sculpture on its public art register since it was commissioned prior to self-government. They could offer no estimate of its value.

Downer Community Association convenor Di Fielding said a common reaction from residents had been one of stunned disbelief.

She said there was a hope in the community that it was taken into protective custody by an ex-pupil.

She said there was little confidence in the ACT government as a guardian of public artefacts given the number of items that had gone missing in recent years.

She said her son believed a resident had taken it for safe keeping and it would be returned for the restoration of Downer’s Bicentennial Square.

“I suspect he is being overly optimistic but it would be lovely if this happened,’’ Ms Fielding said.

The Hohaus sculpture was commissioned by acclaimed landscape architect Beryl Mann, who won an award for her design of Downer Primary School.

Hohaus was born in Silesia, formerly in Germany but now Poland, in 1920 where he trained as a sculptor.

He emigrated to Australia in 1954 and lectured at RMIT between 1961-71. He died in 1990.