This bronze statue put up in memory of murdered Sarah Payne was stolen this morning from Burhill County Primary School in Hersham , Surrey . A bronze statue erected in memory of murdered schoolgirl Sarah Payne was stolen from her school this morning . The 2ft tall statue was presented to Burhill County Primary School in Hersham , Surrey , to commemorate Sarah , who was murdered by Roy Whiting in 2000 . Three people are believed to have been involved in the 'reprehensible ' theft , with a van spotted leaving the area at around 1am . Her mother , Sara , said today : ' I implore the public to help me and the police bring my Sarah 's memorial statue back where it belongs . ' She fears the statue could end up at a scrapyard and melted down and appealed for such businesses to look out for it . She said : 'Monetary-wise it 's not worth that much . It 's worth far more to the school . The residents feel sick and I feel sick about it . ' Eight-year-old Sarah was abducted by paedophile Roy Whiting as she played with older brothers Luke and Lee and younger sister Charlotte in a field outside her grandparents ' rural home in Kingston Gorse , West Sussex in July 2000 . Michael Payne and his then wife Sara made a series of heart-rending appeals for her safe return , but her body was discovered 16 days later in a shallow grave just a few miles away . Whiting was sentenced to life behind bars in January 2001 , and is held at HMP Wakefield , dubbed the Monster Mansion due to the number of high risk sex offenders imprisoned there . Her mother , Sara , said today : ' I implore the the public to help me and the police bring my Sarah 's memorial statue back where it belongs ' Eight-year-old Sarah was abducted by paedophile Roy Whiting as she played in a field outside her grandparents ' rural home in West Sussex in 2000 . It later emerged that Whiting was already on the Sex Offenders Register after abducting and sexually attacking another eight-year-old . Her brutal death remains one of Britain 's highest profile child murders and led to the introduction of Sarah 's Law following a lengthy campaign by her mother . The rule allows concerned parents or grandparents to contact police to find out if a new boyfriend , or a neighbour , who has contact with a child , has a history of child sex offending . Sarah 's father , Michael , died aged 45 last October after a long battle with alcoholism . Her mother was awarded an MBE in 2008 for her campaign work . Following the theft of the statue today , Elmbridge neighbourhood sergeant Marc Nettleingham said : 'We are carrying out a number of enquiries to identify the offenders responsible for this theft , which is particularly reprehensible given that it was presented to the school in memory of Sarah Payne . ' I am appealing to anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area at the time of the offence , or with any other information , to come forward straight away . '
Statue presented to Burhill Primary School , Hersham , stolen around 1am . Three people believed to have been involved in the 'reprehensible ' theft . Sarah 's mother , Sara , 'implores ' public to help bring back memorial statue . Eight-year-old Sarah abducted by paedophile Roy Whiting in July 2000 . The brutal death remains one of Britain 's highest profile child murders .