It was a case of there one day, gone the next for a Napier couple who woke to find their "cheer" had been snatched.
A garden - previously teeming with pretty pale early cheer blooms - was left barren after brazen thieves snuck across their lawn 10m back from the road and made away with about 400 stems in the suburb of Marewa.
With no front fence, it was an easy escape - though the culprit did leave a trail of cut blooms on the way out some time overnight Wednesday.
Steve Flynn said they discovered the act when their daughter went to pick a posy for her teacher, only to find the patch was seriously depleted.
"We have had them in the same place for about 10 years now, I have actually been suspicious in the past that some have gone missing but this was so blatant. It was a big crop - about 400 to 500 stems - now we have about 20 left."