Thieves who pilfered an elderly gardener’s precious perennials from outside his home are thought to have done so to improve the appearance of their own garden.

Stuart Campbell stepped outside his front door at Hollytree House, in Gammons Lane, Watford, on Thursday morning with the intention of watering his prized roses before the heat of the day had a chance to intensify.

But he was left flabbergasted when he found they had been snatched during the course of the night.

At first the sight of compost scattered across the floor outside the sheltered accommodation complex made Mr Campbell think a fox had been digging in the pots to get at the bulbs.

But the 70-year-old soon saw only his roses of all different colours had been targeted – some ripped up by their roots while others were stolen, pot and all.

“If it was vandals I would have seen roses strewn all over the road. I think someone has done this for their own personal garden,” said the green-fingered pensioner.  

“The only pleasure I get is from gardening and they have stolen my flowers.”

Four tubs full of flowers were stolen in total but Mr Campbell is hoping the size of the containers will mean the culprit may have been captured in the peripheries of CCTV cameras belonging to nearby businesses.

“Somebody is going to have seen someone carrying pots with roses in. Hopefully the CCTV cameras might have captured the culprit,” he added.

Police have been notified of the theft and are investigating.