Donisthorpe residents have put out an appeal to find a specially made St George's Day 'topper' that was stolen from a village post box last night (Sunday).

The knitted creation was a depiction of St George and the Dragon and was put on display to mark the patron saint of England's day.

A photo of the topper was shared around the world - from the USA to Australia.

But it disappeared late on Sunday from the post box on the junction of Chapel Street, Acresford Road and Church Street just after 9.30pm.

One resident, Peter Gale, whose wife made the topper, said: "Last night Donisthorpe was the victim of a theft.

"Many hours of hard work go into creating these designs, and their images are shared far and wide. "This particular design was shared in Australia and The USA by relatives that live locally.

"I've shared to all the local Facebook pages but as yet it hasn't been returned. 

"We're trying to make it too hot to handle. My wife made the dragon and is obviously upset."

A post on the Donisthorpe Community News and Events page reads: "A camera picked up someone taking it off the postbox and then walking down Chapel Street…does anyone have cameras on Chapel Street that they can check? 

"To help, you could drop a search into any online sales sites such as Vinted, Facebook Marketplace, eBay, etc and hit notifications. 

"Make the search area wide and anything matching will pop up."

The post box is now missing the St George's Day topper. Photo: Donisthorpe Community News and Events page

Another poster said: "Someone has taken the village postbox topper. Many hours of work has gone into this to help brighten up people's days and someone has just taken it.

"If anyone has any CCTV from that area from last night until this morning then please can you have a look? It would be good to see who did it and ask why."