AN artwork that was set to raise thousands of pounds for Save the Children has been vandalised by thugs.

The Dream Jar, designed by artist Caio Locke, was placed outside Glasgow's Gallery of Modern Art as part of a UK-wide display.

But gallery staff discovered the one-off creation smashed and its contents stolen on Thursday morning.

And, even more embarrassingly, passers-by had begun putting rubbish, such as an Irn Bru bottle, in the empty, broken jar.

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Caio, whose Dream Jar is called The Endless Carnival, said: "The Dream Jar project was intended to encourage children in the pursuit of their imagination, so it is disappointing to hear about artwork vandalism which to my mind has exactly the opposite effect."

The Dream Jars mark the launch of film the BFG as well as celebrating the 100th anniversary of Roald Dahl’s birth.

The trail, which sees artworks positioned around London's landmarks and famous galleries across the UK, has seen the childhood dreams of 50 celebrated famous people transformed into sculptures by talented artists.

The jars are a Who's Who of famous names - from fashion designer Henry Holland to actress Helen Mirren and comedian Graham Norton, film director Steven Spielberg and singer Laura Mvula.

HRH the Duchess of Cornwall has a jar as do Sophie Dahl, Sir Ben Ainslie, the Delevigne sisters, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, singer Niall Horan, Professor Stephen Hawking and mayor Sadiq Khan.

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The trail is raising money for Save the Children to support work with children in some of the toughest places in the world.

It will also benefit a specialist nursing programme supported by Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity.

The jars are due to be auctioned to raise money for both causes and The Endless Carnival was predicted to raise thousands.

Natasha Parker at Save the Children said: “We are incredibly disappointed to learn that Ciao Locke’s The Endless Carnival Dream Jar, which was a beautiful and unique piece of art, has been taken from the city centre and will sadly no longer be a part of The BFG Dream Jar Trail.

"It was set to raise thousands for Save the Children via the live online auction at www.paddle8.com/bfg to help vulnerable children around the world get the chance to make their dreams come true.

"We are appealing to the public to continue supporting Save the Children and the Dream Jar Trail by texting DREAM to 70008 to donate £5 to help recoup the funds lost, or to go to Paddle8 where they can read the stories on all our dreamers and bid for the other Dream Jars.”

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A spokesman for Glasgow City Council urged anyone with information to contact police. He said: “We were approached by the organiser of this project and asked to find a suitable location in the city.

“It’s deeply disappointing that an artwork intended to help raise money for vulnerable children has been vandalised.

“If anyone has any information on who is responsible then we urge them to contact the police.”