THIEVES have left a York couple heartbroken after prized bonsai trees were snatched from the garden of their new home.

Shop worker Doreen Haldon, 55, of Osbaldwick, said seven ornamental trees had been taken, including a showcase Japanese White Pine worth £1,000.

The trees belonged to her husband Thomas, 57, a self-employed window cleaner, who has been growing bonsai for more than ten years, and has displayed them at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show.

Doreen said the thieves probably had no idea of the sentimental and physical value of their haul.

She said: "It is probably random thieves who have taken these trees and are then planning to sell them at a car boot sale.

"They are not run-of-the-mill trees - they are lovingly-grown proper bonsai trees."

She asked anyone who is offered a small ornamental tree to contact the police.

The couple believe they disturbed the thieves when they heard a noise outside their home of five months.

They found a trail of soil, leaves and dead wood leading down their street from a distinctive azalea that was snatched.

Louis Hawksby, of the North of England Bonsai Association, said bonsai trees were only worth what people were prepared to pay for them, and most valuable examples were well-known among collectors.

Updated: 08:40 Monday, October 14, 2002