Anger over bare-faced cheek of thieves as naked gnomes nicked

Crooks took gnome prisoners when they made off with two distinctive “nude” ornaments from a Dundee garden.

Yvonne and Dougy Barron have a host of different ornaments in their garden, but have now been stripped of a couple of their favourites after thieves struck.

The figures, which look as if they are enjoying a spot of sunbathing, are naked apart from their hats and boots – although Mrs Gnome also kept her pants on.

The couple bought the handmade characters while browsing a car boot sale in Errol.

Yvonne said she was taken by the ornaments, which cost £10 each, because they “appealed to her sense of humour” – and she gave them pride of place in their Dykehead Place garden in Stobswell.

The 68-year-old retired cleaner said the couple had a host of different ornaments in their garden. But it seems the crooks were only interested in making off with the unusual naked gnomes.

She said: “At the boot sale, the seller had made them himself and there were only four of them.

“I had never seen anything like them before. I thought they were brilliant, so we got two of them and put them in our garden.

“We were heading into the house and I noticed they were gone.

“I asked Dougy if he had moved them but he hadn’t – that’s when we realised they had been stolen.

“We have other gnomes in the garden – bigger ones – but the thieves weren’t interested in them.

“They were only interested in the nude gnomes.”