A CELEBRATED sculpture by Henry Moore has left its home at Snape Maltings, leaving its plinth temporarily deserted.Reclining Figure LH608 has occupied its own spot outside the world-famous concert hall for the last four years and is admired by its many visitors.

A CELEBRATED sculpture by Henry Moore has left its home at Snape Maltings, leaving its plinth temporarily deserted.

Reclining Figure LH608 has occupied its own spot outside the world-famous concert hall for the last four years and is admired by its many visitors.

Now it has been sent back to the Henry Moore Foundation at Perry Green, Hertfordshire, where it will remain next year.

It will undergo restoration work, then form one of the centrepieces of a retrospective exhibition – Henry Moore: Imaginary Landscapes – on the famous sculptor.

Sculptures by Moore have been loaned to the site since 1967, although they have changed over the years.

"It has become part of the Snape landscape over 30 plus years so certainly people have been surprised not to see it," said David Edwards, head of operations at Aldeburgh Productions.

Moore was friends with Benjamin Britten and agreed to loan works to his concert hall site.

Mr Edwards said: "Apparently they are going to sit this figure at the entrance to the exhibition. We have asked if we could have a replacement loan but unfortunately I'm not sure what the situation is next year.

"It seems to be a very busy year next year for the Foundation because they have got a major retrospective exhibition happening at Perry Green so they want this work as one of his major pieces."

Although the Maltings would like another Moore work to fill the space left next year, the Foundation has indicated there is a big demand on the sculptor's work with exhibitions in Athens for the Olympics, Japan and Dulwich.

"We are considering what we could do with the plinth," explained Mr Edwards. "At the moment it's looking a bit empty but we are actively looking."

Aldeburgh Productions chairman Lord Stevenson of Coddenham, an avid art collector who knows many artists, was looking for a suitable work, he explained.

"Hopefully by the time the Spring season gets under way we will have an alternative on display for people to see."

Moore's sculptures had "come and gone" from the site and it had not always been the same sculpture, but different ones which had been admired over the decades, Mr Edwards explained.