Garden thieves take even the pond and patio

The thieves paid close attention to every detail. As soon as Colin and Linda Warburton moved out, leaving behind their carefully sculpted split-level garden, the raiders struck.

They were quiet and methodical. They took the shrubs, the flowers, the sundial, the bench, a bird table and the fish. They even dug up a pond and the patio. And the Warburtons' neighbours never noticed.

"It must have taken them ages," Mrs Warburton said yesterday. "They actually took the time to drain the pond, dig it out and carry it away. We have asked our neighbours and nobody saw anything suspicious. It is a mystery. It's not like we have any enemies."

The theft from the house in Bedminster on the outskirts of Bristol, is doubly depressing for the Warburtons because the newly completed garden was to be central to their attempts to sell their home.

The couple have recently taken over a pub, and had spent three years landscaping the garden of their old home before trying to sell it. The plants and garden products the thieves made off with were worth roughly £5,000.

The couple are the latest victims of a fad among criminals. The fashion for renovating homes and gardens, reflected in television shows such as Changing Rooms and Garden Force, has led to a parallel trend in thefts from gardens and DIY stores. Insurers believe tougher security in homes has also forced some burglars to focus on gardens.

Over the past few months cases in Britain's gardens have included thefts of koi carp from a Nuneaton pond and a spate of stolen tortoises in the West Midlands, which has led police to introduce a database of local shelled reptiles.