A FRESH appeal to trace a missing milestone has been launched more than two years after it was stolen.

The milestone boundary marker, in Main Road, Dovercourt, was kept in an office at a housing development site next to Pound Farm House by contractors.

The marker was moved from its roadside position to a site office so the developers could widen Main Road to build 30 homes on the land next to it.

But it was taken from the office about two-and-a-half years ago, and has not been seen since.

And now Harwich town councillor Maria Fowler has called for the developer to replace the milestone.

She said: “It is a well-known milestone boundary marker and a lot of residents would have known about it because it was on Main Road.

“I believe, as it was in the care of the developer, that they should be the ones to replace it.”

The marker is about 18ins tall and a foot wide.

Tim Snow, of Tim Snow Architects, said he imagines the marker is now in someone’s garden.

He said: “There are no plans to replace it at the current time.

“The issue was it had to be moved for the widening of the road and would have been put back on the road if it didn’t get stolen.

“I would not have thought it was ever so old, maybe it was put there at the turn of the 20th century.

“But it was a historic item and was nice and part of the original character.”

He said after the original market was stolen, there was no requirement for the developer to replace it.

The development was finished more than 18 months ago.