A statue commemorating the life of one of Wilsden's most respected forefathers, which was stolen from a graveyard, has been replaced by a Nab Wood business.

The white marble statue, which depicted a little girl holding a teddy bear, was taken in February last year.

And despite a police appeal the monument from the family grave of Robert Davies, the village schoolmaster for almost 40 years, was not returned.

But after reading about the theft in the Telegraph & Argus, a Wilsden monument mason decided he would try to replace the four-foot statue which had been above the gravestone since about the time of Mr Davies' death in 1914.

Ian Galbraith, who works for Aire Valley Memorials, Nab Wood, which funded the new statue, said he was given a photograph of the memorial by the family to work from.

And after a long search he finally located an almost identical statue in Valencia, Italy, which he imported and then fixed on a marble base to try and prevent it being snatched again.

Mr Galbraith, 28, who has lived in Wilsden all his life, said: "I was annoyed someone could do something so disrespectful.

"There are a lot of stone flags and items stolen which are part of the village's history, so I thought something should be done."

"It is also awful for the families of people whose graves are vandalised."

He added: "The statue we found is almost the same as the original but it is not quite as tall or as heavy."

Tony Huntington, of York, who is the great grandson of Mr Davies, said he gave Mr Galbraith a photo of the memorial, passed on to him by a relative living in Derby when he carried out research into family history some years ago.

He said: "I am grateful to Aire Valley Memorials for replacing the stone.

"I have been to visit the Wilsden grave before and will definitely go and see the statue next time I am in Bradford."

Village Society member Norman Barwick said he was pleased the statue had been replaced.

He said: "It's a part of this village and the schoolmaster is very important to the history of Wilsden.

"I just hope it's left alone now and not stolen again."

Mr Davies was schoolmaster at Wilsden Board School. His wife Eleanor and son George, who died in infancy, are also buried in the grave.

The graveyard, near Laneside, Wilsden, was once attached to St Matthew's church which was pulled down in the 1960s.