A request went out recently to The Weekend Sun readers asking for help to locate a missing statue of a small boy that once sat in Tauranga's Robbins Park.

Tauranga local Merilyn Anderson read the article, and recalled having a photo in her possession of her daughter, Jane Ashworth, with the statue. Photographed in 1978, Jane, aged three years and eight months old, is shown standing in front of the sculpture.

And while the photo shows a clear side view, it still remains unclear what the face and rest of the boy looked like.

The statue holding the name plaque used to sit at one of the entrances into the rose gardens. Unfortunately, it was damaged some years ago, and though the intention was to repair it, it disappeared. Local historians thought if a good photograph of the statue could be found, it may be possible to replace it.

Thanks to Merilyn coming forward with her photograph there is now the possibility a reproduction of the statue can be made. But the mystery of the missing ‘boy' is still to be solved.