A WIDOW has been left devastated after thieves snatched garden ornaments from a collection she built up with her late husband.

Doreen O'Grady pulled back the curtains at her home in Shaw Close, Blackburn, yesterday morning to discover 25 gnomes, toadstools, decorations and ornamental animals had been taken during the night.

Much of the collection, which covered the house's back garden, had been bought for Doreen by her husband, Oliver, before he died last year.

She is appealing for anyone who has seen the distinctive ornaments to help her retrieve them.

Doreen, 57, said: "There was a reindeer, a donkey, Mother and Father Christmas, an owl, a windmill and many others.

"I realised what had happened when I opened the curtains and saw a toadstool with a squirrel sitting on top had gone.

"My late husband had bought a lot of them for me. Over the years we collected them from wherever we went.

"Children used to stand at the fence and point them out to each other. It's not the cash value I am bothered about, it is the sentimental value."

Blackburn Police confirmed that more than 20 garden ornaments worth a total of £250 were stolen from the garden and are appealing for anyone with information about the theft to contact them on 01254 51212.

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