Back in 1964 the renowned sculptor, Barbara Hepworth, made six casts of what was to be arguably her most famous work. Porthcurno Rock Form is perfectly distilled Hepworth, an organic column, that could be bone or rock. It’s an elemental and timeless summation of the Cornish landscape.

Those six casts have found themselves in prestigious locations. One is in downtown New York, another at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh, and others at galleries in Boston, Philadelphia and Pasadena.

And there’s one at Wolverhampton.

It was installed in the Mander Centre when it opened in 1968. I remember thinking how brave and challenging it was. If the centre was seriously Brutalist, here was something that softened it a little.

People used to arrange to meet by “the thing with holes in it”.

Unfortunately, in an ultimate extension of Hepworthian style, the holes have now taken over completely. That is, the sculpture has vanished.

Back in 2010 the Mander Centre was bought by a property company called Delancey, backed by RBS cash. The plan was either to sell the centre, or to give it a desperately needed make-over, or both. The re-design is going ahead but Delancey’s are selling the centre anyway.

Somewhere in the midst of this impenetrable process Porthcurno Rock Form was removed by Delancey “for safe keeping”. Indeed, I’ve seen “artist’s impressions” of the new design, showing lots of young and eager shoppers, and the usual chain shops, but no sign of anything with a hole in it.

Should I be worried about this? I know that the Mander family are – they were instrumental in getting the Hepworth to Wolverhampton in the first place.

Delancey’s website tells me they “take a lateral approach to direct property investment”, and plenty of other things I don’t understand. I have a firmer grasp of modernist art.

But I shall be keeping my eye on the hole where the Hepworth ought to be. But, at present this particular piece of public art is anything but public.

* Dr Chris Upton is Reader in Public History at Newman University Birmingham