Disbelief as 16ft Christmas tree stolen from shop

A garden centre manager was in disbelief after their 16ft (4.8m) decorated Christmas tree was stolen overnight.

Harriet Lawton said the tree was put up outside the entrance to the Suffolk Plant Centre in Pettistree at the end of November.

On Saturday, the team came in at 08:30 GMT to find the tree had completely disappeared with just a trail of cables left.

Ms Lawton said it had been "heart wrenching" and had left the team disappointed.

"I thought at first maybe it had blown over in the wind, but it definitely wasn't there," Ms Lawton, 42, explained.

"All that was left was a trail of broken wire and they'd obviously snatched it out of the ground, taken all the lights with it and left the cables on the roadway."

She said the team had put the tree in place using a forklift and it had taken three or four of them to do so.

She therefore believed several people must have been behind the theft.

"We couldn't believe it, absolutely couldn't believe that it had gone," she continued.

"Then it sunk in that somebody has taken a Christmas tree with lights on at this time of year when it's supposed to be such a happy time.

"I didn't know those sort of people existed. It's heart-wrenching really and disappointing."

The theft was reported to Suffolk Police on Monday.

The garden centre does have CCTV, but it did not extend to cover the area where the tree was or the nearby road.

Ms Lawton said customers had been incredibly supportive and felt it "as much as we do".

While she was not confident they would find the tree, she encouraged others to be vigilant and "be aware that it might happen to other people".

"Be aware and stick together," she added.

Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.