A passer-by contacted Chad to say they had seen a group of youths trying to prise out one of the characters with a chisel at 7.50pm last Wednesday (14th July).

Police say they attended but found no-one and could not see anything untoward on CCTV footage taken from the area.

However, five of the monument's 42 Roman numeral characters have now been missing for some time – with some having been replaced with asphalt.

It is thought thieves may have targeted the metal in the belief it is valuable as the prices of materials such as copper soar.

The passer-by, who asked not to be named, said: "I saw a group of youths armed with a hammer and a 12-inch chisel hammering away at the Roman numerals on the sundial in Portland Square.

"How can these idiots get away with such a brazen act, hammering away making so much noise in the busiest area of Ashfield in full view of CCTV cameras? It amazes me."

But police said an officer attended the scene immediately after the incident was reported to them, but found nothing. CCTV footage from around the time of the incident also showed nothing.

A force spokesman said: "This incident was reported to us on 14th July and the town centre beat manager attended straight away, but there was no sign of anyone there. However, one numeral is known to have been missing for at least a week before this report."

Ashfield District Council said it was aware of a number of missing numerals, but none had been reported missing around the time of the sighting.
A council spokesman said the numerals are a 'brass substance that could be being mistaken for copper'.

The spokesman said there were currently no plans to replace the missing pieces with metal due to past incidents of vandalism.

Carsic Lane resident Dave Barnes, who regularly enjoys a stroll in the square, said: "Perhaps people are coming around late at night and taking them. Why they do it I've no idea, someone makes an effort to improve the place and then people want to ruin it. It means nothing to the people who do things like this.

"They should definitely be replaced, it doesn't look nice with the gaps like that."

The monument, installed in 1994, is maintained by Ashfield District Council and is Europe's largest sundial.