20 Of 60 Red Bull F1 Trophies Found Dumped In Nearby Lake

The good folks at Red Bull’s F1 Factory finally got some of their stolen property back. BBC News is reporting that of the 60 trophies that were stolen on December 6 from the Red Bull factory in Milton Keynes, England, 20 have been found in nearby Horseshoe Lake, according to Thames Valley Police.

Police have determined that many of the trophies, which were found by a member of the public, were damaged. Fortunately, none of the F1 Championship or Construction Founders trophies were ever stored at that Red Bull factory.

Det. Con. Chris Oakman said, “We estimate about 20 trophies have been recovered, but we are liaising with Red Bull to establish the exact number, as some of the trophies are damaged.”

Anyone who may have knowledge of the theft is asked to contact the Thames Valley authorities through their own authorities or on the 101.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said staff were “absolutely devastated” by the trophies being stolen because they had taken “years to accumulate”.

Following Tuesday’s discovery, Horner said, “The fact that some of the trophies were discarded in a lake and damaged shows how senseless this crime was. While the trophies mean an enormous amount to the team, their intrinsic value is low – and the extent of the damage that was caused to the factory by the offenders during the break-in was significant. Hopefully we can get the trophies back to our factory where they belong and get replicas made of those that we can’t.”

ESPN is reporting that police were called to the Red Bull factory on the morning of Saturday, December 6 at 1:3o AM. After conducting an investigation and questioning the night staff, all of whom were uninjured, it was determined that six men in dark clothing and driving two cars were involved. A silver 4×4 was used to drive through the front doors of the factory, then the six men began loading the 60 trophies into the 4×4 and into a blue Mercedes estate car. Both cars were believed to have foreign license plates.

Horner said, “The actions of these men mean it’s likely that we will have to make our (Red Bull F1) site less accessible in the future, which will be unfair on the hundreds of fans that travel to visit our factory each year to see our trophies and our Formula One car. We would like to appeal to anyone who knows any information on the whereabouts of these trophies or the offenders involved to contact Thames Valley Police.”

A police statement added, “There is no description of the offenders available at this time, although they are all believed to be men, wearing dark clothing.”

[Image courtesy of BBC/South Beds News Agency]