Couple find garden moved next door

HAZEL SLADE, England, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- A British couple said they discovered the garden of their former home had been stolen and installed in the yard of their next-door neighbor.

Phil and Linzi Wood, both 28, said they put the five-bedroom home in Hazel Slade, England, on the market when they moved to Lanzarote in the Canary Islands and later learned from Phil's mother that their garden, which included a path, shrubs, plants, pots, hanging baskets and a garden shed, had been turned into an empty plot, The Mirror reported Tuesday.

Linzi Wood said she returned to England to investigate and discovered all the items from the garden had been moved to neighbor Brian Johnson's yard.

"I got the next flight home and couldn't believe my eyes," she said. "Our garden had vanished. Then I glanced next door and saw where it had gone. The slabs, plant pots, plants and the garden shed -- he'd got the lot. Most of what I said to him was unrepeatable. I think I was just screaming, 'It's mine, it's mine.'"

Wood said Johnson was apologetic and claimed to have purchased the garden supplies as a package without realizing they came from the house next door. She said he initially promised to return the items but he has since refused to speak with the family.

A police spokesman said the matter is under investigation.