An historic part of the St Albans mayoral regalia has gone missing – and members of the public are being asked to keep an eye out for it.

The £3,000 chain of office, which has been worn by numerous mayor’s consorts while on official business, was found to be missing while the mayoral couple was officiating at events in June.

The piece is 110 years old and consists of an 18 carat gold shield-shaped body, mounted with the enamelled Arms of the City. 

Mayor of St Albans Councillor Iqbal Zia said: “We don’t know exactly when this chain went missing, nor the circumstances of its disappearance. Indeed, we are still hoping that it will turn up and we have been retracing our footsteps over the last few days in the hope of finding it. 

“We had a busy week, with a Bollywood charity ball in St Albans, an event for Electric Bike Day at Verulamium Park and a civic service in Harpenden.  

“It was as we were preparing for an event for HMS St Albans that my wife and I realized that the chain wasn’t where we expected it to be. We don’t know if it has been taken or whether it has been misplaced.

“We had an incident at our house on Wednesday when our alarm was triggered and the police were called to the property. At the time it didn’t look like anything was out of place but we can’t help wondering now whether the chain was taken then. We simply don’t know.

“We are heartbroken about the loss and very sorry that this has happened. I am appealing to everyone to please keep an eye out for the missing chain, and contact the mayoral office or the police if you have any information about its whereabouts.”