A STOLEN Gorilla statue that was nicked from a garden centre has been found a year later - after road workers spotted his BUM sticking out of a bush.
The huge primate figure Gary the Gorilla was swiped from the centre by a mystery crook in a bizarre heist last year.
A hunt for the giant statue was launched after the theft from Reynard Nursery in Carluke, Lanarkshire, last March.
And it emerged last night that he'd been found dumped at the side of the road - more than 72 miles away.
Gary's remains were discovered on the A92 between Dundee and Arbroath under a hedge.
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But the eight-foot fibreglass gorilla statue was found sawn in half, with just his rear side still remaining.
Owner Andrew Scott told BBC's Good Morning Scotland: "We've got Gary back, but only Gary's back. He's been sawn in half.
"It was a bit of a disappointment when we went to pick him up from Dundee of all places.
"He's rather bulky and the only way you'll fit him through a normal door is by sawing him in half and that way you can hide him in the house or put him on a wall - but that's the only reason I can think of."
Gary was discovered by BEAR Scotland staff, who maintain Scotland's trunk roads, and was reunited with his owners after they contacted the centre on social media.
Andy Moir, a BEAR superintendent on the A92, said: "We were out on our usual morning route inspection when we spotted something lurking in the bushes at the back of a lay-by.
"When we pulled in to check it out we were pretty shocked to see a gorilla's bum staring us in the face.
"After we composed ourselves we managed to catch the escapee in the van and take it back to the depot where we set about trying to figure out where it came from.
"A little digging online found some articles about a gorilla stolen from Carluke garden centre last year and we were delighted to be able to reintroduce Gary to his troop."
Mr Scott is hopeful Gary's front half might one day be returned to him.
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He added: "I'm at Tesco just now buying Gorilla glue in case the other half happens to appear.
"But for now, we're planning to fix him to the wall in the garden centre and put a sign up above him saying 'Gary's back'.
"We would love to have the front of him as well."
The primate was stolen from his spot as a signpost for the garden centre on March 19.
He was popular among locals and had attracted visitors for ten years.
Gary even masked up during the pandemic when masks were mandatory.
CCTV images captured a car arriving at the centre around 10.30pm before a van came nearly two hours later and took Gary away.
The van was then seen heading in the general Glasgow direction.
The team were never able to get the registration of the vehicle which took him.
There was a bit of hope last April when a gorilla tied to a trailer was spotted on the M25 and on the M40 near Warick.
But it was quickly determined the statue was one of Gary's brothers made from the same manufacturer.
Mr Scott said: "Someone else bought one of Gary's brothers from London and transported him up on the motorway two weeks later and that caused a lot of online commotion.
"I have since spoken to the person who bought Gary's brother and he was actually quite scared with the amount of attention his gorilla was getting."
