Plea to return replica lamb stolen from Syston nursery
Police have asked for a life-sized replica lamb stolen from a nursery to be returned by whoever is responsible.
The lamb could have been taken from 1096 Montessori School, in Syston, Leicestershire, as a prank but police say it is not funny.
The children miss the lamb, named Lucy, and there is a gap where she used to sit on the playground with her replica animal friends.
Lucy was stolen sometime between 23 and 27 August when the nursery was closed.
Officers have been trying to find CCTV that might show the lamb being rustled.
PC Louise Thomas said: "It's easy to make light of the fact a fibreglass lamb has been taken from a garden, but in reality the people who have taken it have essentially stolen a toy from children.
"How do you explain to nursery-aged children that something that they used to play with in the playground has been taken from them?"
The replica animals - three adult sheep, a donkey and a cow - look so realistic that some people have mistaken them for real animals.
PC Thomas thinks whoever has the lamb has told people they have it, or still has it in their home.
"We're appealing to them or people who know them to come forward or return the lamb to the nursery," she said.