A PAINTER who sketched an iconic Hereford pub sign says he can’t understand why it has been stolen.

Colin Stanley Jones was commissioned two decades ago to paint the image of cricket hero WG Grace to hang outside the now derelict Sportsman pub on Widemarsh Common.

But it has recently gone missing from its frame, and Mr Jones is mystified.

“I can’t think what they would do with it,” he said. “I don’t believe just one person would have taken it as it was high up on a rusty frame and quite heavy.”

He said the sign was a remnant of a very good pub which was often used by people using the nearby common for sports fixtures.

WG Grace captained England in the late 19th century and it is believed he played a match on the common.

Another party calling for the sign to be given back is Herefordshire Sport, which was anxious to preserve it as it believes it represents “an important era of Herefordshire’s sporting heritage”.

“From a heritage point of view, the sign has great value in the city,” said Bryan White.

“If the person who took it has a conscience they will realise it is part of Hereford’s sporting history and will return it.”

The derelict building had not been used as a pub since the middle of the 1990s and had been turned into flats before a fire gutted the building in 2008.

It is now up for sale with the agents advertising it as a development opportunity.

Police spokesman Pete Butcher said they were still appealing for the sign’s safe return.

Anyone with information can call Matt Clayton on the public service desk at Hereford police station on 0300 333 3000.