Kevin Atherton’s statue was unveiled on Saturday. PHOTOS: GREG  FOXSMITH

A LOST statue that was found in the basement of the Town Hall after more than 30 years has been returned to the park where it once stood.

Kevin Atherton’s bronze, called Upon Reflection, has been restored and put back on the original spot it occupied in Elthorne Park.

A self-portrait of the sculptor deep in thought, it stands looking over a pond in the Philip Noel-Baker Peace Garden within the park.

Nobody is quite sure exactly what happened to it after it was installed in the 1980s, but council officials think it was vandalised or even stolen, before being recovered by the Town Hall.

Its whereabouts were unknown until former mayor David Poyser was among a group who tracked it down to a council storage area.

Guests at the unveiling included Jeremy Corbyn and Bruce Kent

It was officially unveiled on Friday. Guests included Bruce Kent, the former general secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, of which Mr Noel-Baker was a member.

Mr Kent had been there for its first unveiling in 1985.

At that time, Islington had been shown 70 proposals for artwork for the park – £7,000 had been offered for the project –before choosing Mr Atherton’s sculpture.

He has had work displayed at some of the world’s most famous art galleries and his sculptures have become landmarks.

His work Platforms Piece – statues of three commuters at Brixton rail station – has been granted listed status.

Greg Foxsmith, a lawyer and former councillor who lives in the area, spotted the statue on one of his regular walks through the park.

“I’m delighted and pleased for the community that we have our statue back,” he said.

“I have always seen the garden as an oasis from the traffic and a place for quiet reflection, like the statue. It is a place to go to be calm.”

Islington cabinet councillor Una O’Halloran said: “We know that the Upon Reflection statue is a key Islington landmark, and we are extremely grateful to those that have made its restoration possible.”

Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn was among those involved in discussions to reinstate the statue, along with Cllr Asima Shaikh and Cllr Poyser.

Mr Corbyn said that it “would breathe new life” into the park “and provide another space for our wonderful and diverse community to gather and share that sense of belonging”.