Around 20 of the stolen trophies were found in the Horseshoe Lake near Sandhurst last Monday after a passer-by spotted the objects floating in the water.

The trophies, which carried little monetary value, were stolen from the factory in Tilbrook, Milton Keynes, in the early hours of the morning on Saturday, December 6.

Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal, said the trophies meant 'an enormous amount’ to the team and that he hoped all of them would be returned to the factory.

He said: “The fact that some of the trophies were discarded in a lake and damaged shows how senseless this crime was. While the trophies mean an enormous amount to the team, their intrinsic value is low.

“Hopefully, we can get the trophies back to our factory where they belong and get replicas made of those that we can’t. Thanks to everyone involved for their help so far.” A 4x4 vehicle caused significant damage when it was driven through the front entrance of the factory and six men stole more than 60 trophies belonging to the Red Bull Racing team.

CCTV footage from the activity centre near Horseshoe Lake showed the vehicle pulling up to the lake at around 3.50am and men dragging a large sack towards the water. The owner of the lake’s activity centre, Carl Slater, said that they often find items dumped in the lake, despite their staff’s rigorous monitoring of the area.

“There’s only so much we can do for security. We have found three lots of stolen trophies from nearby golf clubs before,” he said. “The only reason I can think for them dumping the trophies here is that the people who stole them live locally – why else would they be found here?” The trophies are now being identified and kept for forensic identification, Thames Valley Police confirmed.

Investigating officer Det Con Chris Oakman would like anyone who sees a trophy near Horseshoe Lake to contact the force. He said: “We estimate about 20 trophies have been recovered, but we are liaising with Red Bull to establish the exact number, as some of the trophies are damaged.

“We would continue to ask that anyone with any information about the burglary contacts us on 101.”