Thieves steal autistic boy's lawn from Norfolk sensory garden

A five-year-old autistic boy has been left "devastated and sobbing" after thieves stole artificial grass from his sensory garden, his mother said.

The £1,000 of turf was ready to be re-laid at the family's new Sprowston, Norfolk, home and was taken from the front garden over the weekend, as reported in the Eastern Daily Press.

Karon White said it enabled Carl, who has "sensory issues", to play out all year, and said the thieves were "low".

Police said they were investigating.

The turf was stolen while the family was away visiting relatives.

It had first been bought as part of a sensory garden designed for Carl at the family's former home, and was about to be re-laid at the new house in Clover Court.

"It's special turf for my little boy. He's got autism and special needs, he's got sensory issues and he loved the grass. It's very soft," Miss White said.

She said the turf, which measured about 40 sq m was heavy and "would have taken about four people to move it".

She had saved the money from her son's disability benefits to buy the artificial grass and would not be able to replace it, she said.

Miss White said she hoped the thieves would realise how much the garden meant to her son and would return it.

"That was his special grass and he was absolutely devastated. He just sobbed his heart out. I can't believe people would be so low," she said.