£25,000 reward offered to find stolen historic Glasgow artefact

A radio station is offering people £25,000 if they can help find a historic Glasgow artefact stolen from one of the city’s museums.

Go Radio said the cash would be given to the person whose information could recover the Lipton Cup.

The trophy, reportedly worth nearly £500,000, was stolen from the Riverside Museum last October.

The cup was given to Glasgow merchant Thomas Lipton in New York in 1930 after his fifth attempt to win the America’s Cup, a global prize in yacht racing.

Following his death, it was given to the city of Glasgow.

On Friday, Go Radio, which has its Gorbals offices close to Lipton’s birthplace, launched the “We Want Our Trophy Back” campaign to find the artefact.

Rochelle Clemente, managing director of Go Radio, said: “Sir Thomas Lipton is part of the Gorbals’ story, and this trophy belongs to Glasgow’s heritage.

“We’re proud to be based here and we want our trophy back. If anyone knows anything that can help bring it home, we urge them to come forward.”

Officers investigating the theft have appealed to the public for help.

The force said inquiries are ongoing and have included extensive CCTV review and conventional inquiry, including within the art world.

The cup has been circulated as a stolen artefact through Interpol and other industry stolen property registers.

The cup is described as gold, with two handles and a detachable domed lid, set atop a silver square plinth base.

It has an enamelled red, white and blue shield and gold ropework.

Detective Sergeant Bob Carrigan, from the Community Investigation Unit in Glasgow, said: “This trophy is of significant historic value and belongs to the people of Glasgow.

“I am now appealing to the help of the public as part of our investigation to find and return the item to the museum.

“Anyone with any information, no matter how small it may seem, is asked to contact police. It may help us piece together what happened and find the trophy.”

Those with information are urged to contact police on 101 and quote reference number 0993 of Thursday, October 23 2025 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Jane Rowlands, head of museums and collections at Glasgow Life, said: “We are deeply saddened by the disgraceful theft of this important object from the city’s collection and recognise the strength of feeling it will provoke.

“This is not only a loss for the museum, but a theft from the people of Glasgow, whose shared heritage our collections represent.

“Since October, we have been supporting Police Scotland in their investigation to recover the item and have taken steps to review security measures across our museums.

“We have also added it to the Art Loss Register – the world’s largest private database of stolen art – which will flag it to auction houses worldwide in an effort to prevent any attempted sale.

“Our priority is to see this treasured object safely returned to the people of Glasgow and we would encourage anyone who may have information about the cup’s whereabouts to tell the police.”