AN EX-SAS hero smuggled a buttock prised from a statue recognised around the world into Herefordshire after Iraq was liberated in 2003.

The story came to light in October 2011, when ex-SAS soldier Nigel Ely sent it to auction.

The Hereford Times reported he had used a hammer and a crowbar to smash the memento from a statue of the former despot that was toppled in 2003.

The then-52-year-old soldier, known as Spud, managed to sneak it out of the country by saying that it was vehicle armour and paid £385 in excess baggage charges to get it to the UK.

He kept it at his Preston-on-Wye home for seven years.

It was hoped the iconic bronze piece would raise thousands of pounds to help injured ex-servicemen in Britain and the USA when it went under the hammer in Derby on October 27.

“It’s been with me all these years, but I decided it was time it did some good,” said Mr Ely.

“At the time of the invasion one of my fellow ex-SAS friends had agreed to lead a maverick Sky News team into Iraq and asked me if I fancied tagging along.

“We got over the Kuwait border, piggy-backed to the front of the US Marine column and then made a solo dash through ‘Sniper Alley’ with no escort.

“When we arrived in Firdos Square in the heart of Baghdad the statue had just been toppled and the US Marines had erected a cordon of tanks to guard the square.

“But I wanted a piece of the statue and when I mentioned to the marines that I was an old soldier and with the press they told me, ‘no problem buddy – help yourself’.”

Finding the bronze statue lying face down, Mr Ely enlisted the help of a marine armed with a crowbar and sledgehammer to “liberate” half of Saddam’s buttock.

“I only wanted a piece big enough to put in my pocket, but I ended up with a chunk about 2ft square,” he said.

“I thought, ‘what the hell am I going to do with this’?”

Mr Ely, who was one of the SAS’s youngest ever recruits at the age of 22 and is a Falklands War veteran, said that the Kuwaiti Army arrested him and his team when they tried to re-enter the border country, but persuaded them that the buttock was vehicle armour to protect them from bullets and bombs.

After leaving the forces, he worked as a security consultant, a bodyguard and artist before becoming a best-selling author of books such as Fighting for Queen and Country.

He is also the founder of Trebletap, a specialist company that promotes “war relic art”, and later stood for UKIP in Herefordshire.

Hanson Auctioneers, which put the buttock under the hammer, said that it had been subjected to spectral analysis and its provenance recorded.

“We’re thrilled to be offering such an iconic piece of modern history,” said auctioneer Charles Hanson, now of Bargain Hunt and Antiques Road Trip fame, at the time

“It should appeal to military and art collectors alike, not to mention anyone who has an interest in the major events that have helped shape the world we live in.”