Country park's toposcope targeted by thieves who smash landmark pointer

The toposcope in Baggeridge Country Park near Sedgley was smashed when being targeted by thieves on the night of Friday, April 21.

A toposcope plate, commonly made from bronze and other non-precious metals, is placed at the top of hills and mountains and is engraved with distances and directions to points of interest and notable landscapes.

A Facebook user announced the theft yesterday, sharing a photo of the destroyed plinth and saying: "Does anyone know what happened to the Baggeridge Park toposcope?"

David Poulton, another Facebook user, said: "Somebody went to a great deal of effort to break this metalwork out. Was it really worth it?"

Jodie McCaskill, added: "That is so disappointing, what even is the point of doing something like this?"

The toposcope has been at Baggeridge since 1994 and is a key location for people who visit the park each year for its range of walking routes.

The brass plate – which measures around 3ft in diameter – and the toposcope on which it sat, have been the site of a range of major events over the years, most recently when a beacon was lit last summer to mark the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

Callum Davies, 34, a mountaineer from Walsall, said: "Toposcopes are a fantastic directional indicator of all the important vistas, viewpoints and points of interest around the area.

"They are also a great indicator for mountaineers about directions of travel, and can be a great navigational tool if you are lost in the mountains, the fact someone would steal one is absolutely ridiculous. Most of them aren't even made out of valuable metals."

South Staffordshire Council, Which runs Baggeridge Country Park, is urging anyone who may come across the plate, or who has witnessed the vandalism and theft to contact Staffordshire police on 101 quoting incident number 44026423.

Staffordshire Police have been approached for comment.