Florists targeted by thieves

The Flower And The Glory

Callous thieves smashed through the shop window front of a florist and stole a Valentine's display.

The burglary happened at The Flower And The Glory shop on Church Street in Littleborough between 10pm on 13 February 2013 and 5.45am the next morning.

The offenders smashed through the window using bricks and stole a large heart display that the shop owner had spent countless hours creating especially for Valentine's Day. The thieves also stole numerous bouquets of flowers.

The heart display itself is described as being between 30 and 36 inches, and the bunches of flowers were made up of red roses, lilies and white roses in red gift bags with silver labels displaying the shop name and logo.

Police are now appealing to anyone who has information about the burglary to come forward.

Police Constable Lucy Maclennan said: "This is a truly senseless and despicable crime. The shop owner spent countless hours lovingly creating this fantastic display for her shop, which has been a talking point throughout the community.

"To have it stolen and her shop vandalised in this cruel fashion has quite clearly left her devastated.

"We need to catch the culprits and show them that criminal behaviour like this will be met with harsh penalties so I would appeal to anyone who has information about this burglary to come forward.

"In particular, I would ask that if anyone noticed someone selling these sorts of bouquets on the streets on Valentine's morning that you tell us as it is quite possible these thieves would have tried to shift the stolen flowers onto unsuspecting members of the public straight after the theft.

"I would also ask people to look very carefully at the heart display itself. This stolen item may have been given as a gift to a loved one so if you do have it in your house, then please call police immediately as you could have vital information."

Anyone with information should call police on 0161 856 8624 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.