Police search for painting stolen from boarded-up castle on Scottish island

The artwork is missing from Kinloch Castle on the Isle of Rum which is owned by a government agency.

Police are searching for a painting stolen from a boarded-up castle on Rum.

Kinloch Castle was broken into on Saturday, July 15. The painting was reported missing after an inventory by staff at NatureScot, which owns the building and its contents on behalf of the nation.

CCTV was previously installed at Kinloch following previous thefts from the castle, which was built in 1900 by wealthy industrialist George Bullough. The building still contains many of his belongings, which hint a the opulent lifestyle of the heir to a textile manufacturing fortune and the high living he enjoyed.

The oil painting was taken from Kinloch Castle on Saturday, July 15 during a break-in. PIC: Contributed.

The oil painting depicts his steam yacht Rhuma, which was built on the Clyde and which Bullough used on tours of the Caribbean.

A NatureScot spokesperson said: “Following a break-in at Kinloch Castle on Saturday, July 15, NatureScot staff carried out a thorough inventory check and established that a painting had been taken. Police are continuing to investigate the matter and we urge any members of the public with information to contact them directly.

“Police Scotland previously reviewed the building security at Kinloch Castle and, as a result, additional CCTV was deployed in and around the castle. The building is securely locked at all times when not occupied.”

Kinloch Castle on the Isle of Rum has been boarded up since 2013 with a new owner sought for the building. PIC: Contributed.

In 2021, a box of drinks bottles and glasses went missing from the castle and was later found in a house on Rum along with a sword and wooden snake pole. The castle has been boarded up since 2013 as a new owner is sought for the deteriorating pile.

An anticipated sale to millionaire financier Jeremy Hosking fell through in March following an intervention from the Isle of Rum Development Trust and government minister Lorna Slater.

Meanwhile, NatureScot continues to maintain the building against the elements, with around £380,000 spent in the past five years.

A statement from Kinloch Castle Friends Association, which previously tried to buy the castle, said the latest theft signalled a "lack of care” at the building.

A statement said: "If there has been another theft, then this is further evidence of the lack of care by NatureScot of a category A listed building and the important contents. It has always been acknowledged that the contents of the castle are as important as a whole – not individually – as the building.

"Further delays and failure to act by the minister concerned are causing untold damage to the building and contents. The castle could be by now in course of development to provide much needed extra accommodation and employment for the local and wider community, but instead it was all put on hold. This all has a high cost to the Scottish people.”

Ms Slater visited Rum in May and later conceded the majority of residents supported the sale. A six-month consultation was then launched on the island over the castle’s future.

A police spokesman said: “We are appealing for any information in relation to the theft of a painting from Kinloch Castle on the Isle of Rum that occurred on the 15th of July, 2023.”