THE family of a two-year-old tot are appealing for callous thieves to show heart and return a treasured sunflower to their nursery gardening girl.

Mum Laura and dad Barrie James, 28, said somebody had trespassed into their back garden, on Holton Road, Barry, and removed a potted sunflower – just six weeks after eldest daughter Frankie had brought it home from her PhillyBears playgroup.

The budding gardener had been tending to the plant – watering it and watching it in the sun – as part of her playgroup’s project and it was around 80cm tall when it was stolen during the night of June 18.

33-year-old Laura, also mum to four-and-a-half-month-old Gwen, said the family had lived at the property for almost a year and nothing had ever gone missing despite it being quite exposed.

She said: “I normally wouldn't mind. There's not much worth stealing but they took a sunflower that my two-year-old daughter had planted in playgroup. We've been watering it daily for the last 6 weeks or so since she brought it home from PhillyBears playgroup.

“There was a competition to see whose could grow the tallest and we would try and get her to stand next to it. When it came home it was quite small.

It was only leaves. It didn’t even have a sunflower on it. Why would someone steal it when there was a nice lily there

“I don’t think she’s quite realised.

To say that we are upset that someone has come into our garden and taken the plant, pot and all, is an understatement. It makes it worse that it was my daughter’s playgroup project.

“Anything to do with my children has great sentimental value for me.”