A DARWEN artist’s portrait of Manchester United legend Eric Cantona has been stolen from an exclusive gallery.

Ed Chapman, who was brought up in The Vicarage, Hawkshaw Avenue, and attended St Cuthbert’s Primary School, had spent two weeks creating the 2.5ft sq tile mosaic of Eric for the Troubadour Gallery in upmarket Chorlton-cum-Hardy.

But thieves smashed the shop’s window using a brick and stole the work, valued at £2,000.

Gallery owner James Chapman-Kelly said he was “absolutely disgusted” at the theft which occurred in the early hours of Sunday.

He said: “I noticed that the window was smashed when I drove past on Sunday morning.

"The Cantona piece was a particularly wonderful piece and I had put it in the window to enhance the town. Many people had commented on it.

“In five years of the gallery being open we have never had a break-in before and have special security devices behind the windows.

"I think it’s been targeted by football-loving, low-life scum because there were other works in the immediate vicinity that haven’t been touched.”

Mr Chapman, 38, whose mother was popular Darwen artist Margaret Chapman, said: “I was really disappointed to learn that Cantona had been stolen.

“It was a lot of hard work as it takes a long time to painstakingly apply each tiny piece of ceramic tile to create the work.

“I do that because I love what I do and I create these things for people to invest in when they feel as passionate about the portraits as I do.

"I think that’s something Eric himself can relate to.”

The theft comes at a time when cinema audiences are re-acquainting themselves with the French footballer in Ken Loach’s new film ‘Looking For Eric’ in which Canotna appears as himself.

Greater Manchester Police have urged anyone who has been offered such a mosaic in suspicious circumstances to call police on 0161 872 5050 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.