Disappearing Daisy has delighted her Perthshire owners after returning home after a four-month absence.
The Sands family have been reunited with their stolen life-sized Shetland pony statue after it was discovered in a field over 30 miles away.
Tessa Sands, owner of the rainbow decorated Daisy, was overjoyed to see the horse again after it was found by businessman Graham Hall near his house three miles west of Kirriemuir.
Thieves stole Daisy from the driveway of Tessa’s home in Glencarse last September, prompting a huge online appeal for the horse which holds great sentimental value for her family.
The Shetland pony attended Tessa and her husband Michael’s wedding where it was signed by all of their guests and during lockdown the couple and their son Fergus added their handprints as a memento.
After being reunited with Daisy, the delighted owner told The Courier she feared she would never get the pony back.
However she has vowed to put the statue back in her usual spot after tidying her up from fire damage caused by the thieves.
Tessa said: “It’s fantastic. It’s a bit of positive news in this horrible time.
“I honestly thought we would never see her again.
“She will be going back out after she’s been painted.
“She’s needing a bit of TLC at the moment, it’s got a bit of fire damage to its legs.”
Tessa thanked Graham for finding her horse and praised the benefits of newspaper and social media in reuniting Daisy with her family.
“It just goes to show you the power of the papers and social media,” she said.
Graham, owner of Angus business Genista Energy, spotted the statue which he believes may have lain in the field for months.
He told The Courier: “I was out for a walk near my house about three miles west of Kirriemuir.
“Something caught my eye off the track.
“I thought it may have been an animal in distress, lying on it’s side.
“I went over to check it out and saw it was Daisy.
“I had no idea about it being stolen. Clearly dumped, I wanted to find who left it or find a new home for it.
“It was partially covered in snow, so it had been there since the beginning of January at least.
“More likely I think The Courier article made it hot merchandise and the thieves dumped it as soon as the article came out.
“If they did it then – it would have not been spotted due to long grass and brambles etc.
“They would have had to go to great trouble to place it where I found it.”
The businessman took to social media to local Facebook page Sustainable Kirriemuir and was inundated with replies saying it was the stolen horse from Perthshire.
He was then put in touch with Tessa’s sister and dropped Daisy at her home.
Graham said: “I just wanted to get it back to the family.
“I received a very nice thank you card from the family.
I’m glad it can bring a smile back to peoples faces during these Covid times.”
