30th October 2026 – (Hong Kong) Police are investigating the suspected theft of a sculpture from Hong Kong City Hall in Central after an exhibition organiser reported this afternoon that an artwork had vanished from the venue.
Officers were called at 2.31pm when the organiser said a sculpture inside City Hall at 5 Edinburgh Place could not be accounted for. Police attended, classified the case provisionally as theft and assigned it to the Central District crime investigation team. The piece is understood to be worth about HK$160,000 — a substantial sum for a single work still in the set-up phase of a civic arts programme.
The hall is being used for the Microwave International New Media Arts Festival 2026. According to the festival’s official website, an opening ceremony was due this evening, with the thematic exhibition scheduled to open to the public from 31st October to 8th November.
Accounts of the lead-up say the company running the show began assembling artworks at City Hall from 27th October. On the afternoon of the 28th the exhibits were moved into the exhibition space to await further installation. When assembly time ended at 8.00pm that evening, City Hall staff closed the hall’s entrances and exits.
It was only today, when workers intended to place the pieces on display platforms, that the sculpture was found to be gone. The organiser then reported the loss. The same person is said to have last seen the artwork on 28th October — leaving a window of roughly two days between the last known sighting and the alarm being raised.
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department confirmed that an organiser renting the Lower Block Exhibition Hall at Hong Kong City Hall had reported to police that a set of exhibits was missing. Police are investigating, and City Hall will assist the inquiry. Further comment was still being sought from the festival organisers as officers began their on-site work.
