A flowerpot man which brightened the day for passers by has been stolen in the latest raid on Black Country gardens.

The thieves took Mr Ben – a four-foot tall man made of plastic pots and filled with flowers – out of the garden in Evers Street, Quarry Bank.

Owners Ann and Paul Grainger also lost a wall plaque and two other plant pots in the raid and their garden furniture, which is chained to the ground, was moved – leading them to believe the thieves tried to take that too.

Mr and Mrs Grainger say it is not the first time their garden ornaments have been targeted and while Mr Ben has little cash value, he was a real talking point in the neighbourhood.

“We bought the flowerpot man at a county show about four years ago,” said Mrs Grainger, aged 56, who moved to Evers Street six years ago.

“He didn’t cost that much but we bought him because he was so unusual and the children in the street used to love looking at him as they walked by.

“He was a talking point for the adults too because it was something a bit different which raised a smile,” she said.

The couple are unsure when the pot was taken as they both spent several days inside the house recovering from a stomach bug. When they re-emerged last Thursday, Mr Ben was gone.

“This is not the first time our garden has been targeted,” said the mother-of-one. In the first two years we lived here we had a number of garden statues stolen. Some were so expensive – including one stone statue which cost around £300 – we had to claim on the insurance,” said Mrs Grainger.

“We don’t put anything of value in the garden any more but we do take a lot of pride in our gardens – front and back – and it is a shame for someone to spoil it,” she went on to say.

“We just want people to be aware of the problem so that they can take extra care of their own items.

“We are also asking for people to keep an eye out for Mr Ben because he’s such an unusual item it will be obvious if he turns up somewhere. If anyone comes across him we’d be really grateful if they could let us know by contacting their local police station,” she added.