Bust of the renowned engineer in Durham has been missing for more than five years

Durham University is set to replace a statue of Sir Ove Arup, more than five years after it was stolen.

The bronze bust of the man who founded engineering giant Arup is to be replaced after it went missing from a concrete plinth outside the Durham Students’ Union building in the summer of 2006.

The university applied for planning permission for a replacement bust and accompanying information panel last week, the Durham Times reported.

Newcastle-born Arup built his first bridge in the city – the Grade I-listed Kingsgate Bridge – which he was hugely fond of. Arup requested that his ashes be scattered from it following his death.

Arup worked on many famous projects throughout his career including Sydney Opera House, The Barbican Centre and London Zoo’s Penguin Pool.

A campaign by conservationists after the bust’s disappearance to ‘bring me the head of Ove Arup’ was regrettably unsuccessful.