Ipswich garden display removed due to theft of two ornaments

A man has removed his popular garden display after two of its items were recently stolen.

Simon Hodding, who lives at the entrance to Holywells Park in Ipswich, has been entertaining passers-by for more than three years.

Hodding said he and his wife were “disappointed” and their garden “doesn’t look the same”.

“We loved it back. It’s not about the money, it’s the disappointment of the children,” he said.

What started as a bit of fun during the Covid-19 lockdowns has quickly turned into a habit for Mr Hodding.

“I started with a couple of ducks and I couldn’t stop, so I decided to keep going,” he recalled.

The display has grown over the past three and a half years and contains a variety of ornaments, including meerkats, other animals and gnomes.

Last week, the couple realized two ornaments — skulls of a dinosaur and a sabretooth tiger — were missing.

Their CCTV cameras were not working at the time and the couple made the decision not to report the theft to the police.

Mr Hodding has already invested in displays for future events such as Halloween, Remembrance Day and Christmas, but the long-term fate of the ornaments is undecided.

“We were thinking of selling them and giving the money to the park, but it would be a shame not to continue doing it,” he said.

“We’ll see where we go and maybe put them out again with some CCTV.”