The bronze statues, which each weigh two tonnes, were made by Austrian sculptor Josef Thorak. They disappeared from a Soviet barracks in 1989 before being found in 2015 in southern Germany.

Rainer Wolf, 80, from the southwestern town of Bad Dürkheim, fought a court battle to reclaim the horses from the government, who said ownership had passed to the state.

Dutch investigator Arthur Brand tracked the bronzes down.

He said: “We have tried to destroy everything, that seemed appropriate at the time because we wanted to forget, but you can’t erase history. People need to see it and feel it to understand.”