US artist Wayne Hill, had devised the artwork, a two-litre (3.5-pint) clear plastic bottle filled with melted ice from the Antarctic, to highlight the dangers of global warming.

Entitled "Weapon of Mass Destruction" it was on show at an arts festival in Devon, southwest England.

"It looked like an ordinary bottle of water, but it was on a plinth, labelled, described and in the programme of the whole festival," Hill said.

"It was very, very clear what it was -- a work of art."

The purpose of the piece was to bring people in direct contact with the rapidly-diminishing West Antarctic ice sheet, the artist said.

"The concept is to take something as dangerous as that and to bring it immediately into somebody's presence," he said.

"Nobody has any idea what has happened to it. It was there and then it was gone," he added.

"It is a strong piece and I would like to get my hands on it. It was scheduled for further exhibitions later on in the year, and it was getting around and gaining a small reputation for itself."

All rights reserved. copyright 2018 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.