THIEVES brazenly walked off with a rare first edition of the first Harry Potter book worth nearly £6,000 from an exhibition.

The couple, described as well-dressed, distracted gallery staff before taking the hardback copy of The Philosopher’s Stone from its display case.

And the book’s owner believes the rare edition – one of just 400 to be printed before the adventures of the boy wizard became a publishing phenomenon – has already surfaced on the London book market.

The theft, from the Creative Art Gallery in Woodstock, comes as the latest Potter adventure hits the big screen.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the book that introduced the young wizard to legions of fans around the globe, tells of Harry’s quest to retrieve the powerful stone protected by a three-headed dog.

But, unlike the fictional stone, the rare tome was not guarded by a mythical beast and the thief swiped the valuable book as his female accomplice kept look out.

It happened at 1.30pm on Saturday, October 30, at the gallery in Oxford Street, Woodstock, and police have released CCTV images of two people they want to speak to in connection with the incident.

The book, the first in the popular Harry Potter series that has netted author JK Rowling more than £500m, had been part of an exhibition of children’s illustrations.

It is owned by Oxford book dealer Adrian Greenwood who had loaned the restored copy, one of four first editions he owns, to the gallery for its Art You Grew Up With exhibition.

Mr Greenwood said: “This one was worth £6,000, it was a first edition that was library stock.

“It is very unusual and whoever stole it will have a terrible time selling it.

“It is restored and we have photos of exactly where it has been restored so it is easy to identify.”

He has a further three copies of the rare first edition, one of which is signed by the author and is up for sale with a £19,950 price tag.

Mr Greenwood, who is based in Iffley Road, said book dealers and auction houses had been informed of the edition, printed in 1997, and he believed it had already been offered for sale.

He added: “A dealer in London had one offered to them by someone who left a fake phone number.”

Pc Geoffrey Allen, of Witney police, said: “I believe this was an opportunist crime and the offenders took advantage of the gallery assistant being occupied by a group of people.

“The owner of the book is very keen for it to be recovered and we are appealing for anyone who recognises the two people in the CCTV images to call us.”

Anyone with information can call Pc Geoff Allen on 08458 505505 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.