Mum devastated by theft of garden statue (From thisisoxfordshire)

Mum devastated by theft of garden statue

6:15pm Monday 10th August 2009 in News By Fran Bardsley

A MOTHER-of-two has been left devastated after the wooden statue her children had saved up their pocket money to buy was stolen from her garden.

The seven-foot carved statue of a dragonfly was a Mother’s Day gift to Charlotte Trinder from six-year-old Buffy and 12-month-old Snow.

Miss Trinder loved the gift so much she put it up in her front garden in Donnington Bridge Road, East Oxford, so friends and neighbours could enjoy it. But when she looked out of her window on Saturday morning, it was gone.

Miss Trinder, who reported the theft to police, said: “Some nasty person seems to have come and taken it from my garden and snapped it off at the bottom.

“It is gutting, I am just devastated.

“Snow is too little to really understand, but I had to tell Buffy this morning before she went out of the house and she was crying and saying ‘I buyed you that and somebody’s cut it’. It’s horrible.”

The statue, which cost about £65, was carved by chainsaw artists Krazy Karvers and was commissioned especially for Miss Trinder.

Miss Trinder said it was of great sentimental value not just for her but her daughters as well. The dragonfly, which has wings created out of chicken wire and twigs and a body made of maple wood, was cemented into the ground.

The thief or thieves snapped or broke it from its base, leaving a few inches of wood remaining.

Miss Trinder said: “I could have put it in my back garden and just appreciated it myself, but I wanted to share it with the community.

“Since it went up in March, I have had people stopping and admiring it and taking pictures of it.

“I never thought anyone would steal it because it’s not valuable in its price, it’s just sentimental value.”

Miss Trinder is offering a small reward for information leading to the return of the statue and conviction of those responsible.

fbardsley@oxfordmail.co.uk