THEY became a focal point of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, with sports fans and visitors to the city queuing up to take keepsake photos at their feet.

But there will be no more happy snaps with statues of the Games mascot Clyde.

They are being removed from their plinths after one was stolen in an apparently brazen robbery from outside Ibrox Stadium.

Police Scotland has launched an ­investigation after the life-size statue of the walking thistle was taken some time between Wednesday afternoon and yesterday morning.

The purple-haired character was a hit with the people of Glasgow and beyond, and was the face of the Games to many.

A collection of 25 fibreglass models were placed around the city, making up Clyde's Trail for fans to follow.

The theft, coming as it did so soon after the end of the Games, left many people dismayed and they took to social media to call for the mascot's return.

Gillian Wheelan said: "Clyde really is gone! The statues are away a week early after the one in Govan was stolen," while Caroline Currie tweeted: "And this is why we can't have nice things."

One parent said: "I'm more annoyed they've removed them as we've got a three-year-old who hasn't finished the Clyde trail."

Others were downbeat about what the theft said about Glasgow, with Colin Savage tweeting: "Glasgow back to normal then, we did well for 11 days."

Paddie Morris-Ellis was annoyed by the theft, tweeting: "This is one of the reasons that Glaswegians have a bad name! Do the right thing and return it for goodness sake!"

However, others found some humour in the mascot's disappearance, with one Twitter user saying: "The guy was probably walking through Govan looking for a friend when he saw Clyde and thought 'thistle do.'"

Clyde, designed by 14-year-old Beth Gilmour, was the hottest item in the Glasgow 2014 souvenir shop.

More than 50,000 soft toys of the character have been purchased since July.

The high demand led to the six-inch and 10-inch toy versions temporarily selling out.

The Clyde statues, which also made an appearance at Central Station, Queen Street Station and Buchanan Street Bus Station, were dressed in different outfits chosen by nursery and school pupils.

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: "Clyde has become synonymous with Glasgow's Games and the trail has proved massively popular, with tens of thousands of fans queuing to have their picture taken beside Clyde across the city in recent weeks."

The council said discussions were continuing on the fate of the figures but that the plan remained for them to stay on show in the city as a lasting legacy of the Games.

The spokesman added: "In recent days there have been incidents of vandalism to some of the Clydes along the trail, including defacement of the plaques and QR codes, which are there to help people complete the trail using the Clyde's Trail smartphone app.

"It was our intention for the Clydes to remain in their current locations and for the trail to be enjoyed until the end of the school holidays.

"Thereafter we planned to take each of the statues in from Sunday August 17 to clean them up and carry out any routine maintenance required.

"However, to ensure the safety of the remaining Clydes, we have decided to begin removing them from today."