Upset after D-Day postbox topper goes missing

A woman has expressed her disappointment after a postbox topper she made to commemorate D-Day was stolen just days after being put on display.

Margaret Upton said the topper was taken from Main Street, in Ticknall, Derbyshire, on Thursday.

It was taken just days after another crotcheted design featuring two chickens to celebrate spring went missing from the same postbox on Sunday, she added.

Ms Upton said she was "really mad" about the disappearance of her D-Day topper and that it showed "disrespect".

"It’s very sad that somebody would steal a commemorative item that was put out for the whole village to celebrate," the 72-year-old said.

Ms Upton, who lives in Newhall, said she had securely tied the spring chickens topper, which took three weeks to create, on to the postbox on 16 March.

It remained there until its disappearance this week.

"I was upset but it looks like a toy so I can understand," she said.

Ms Upton said she replaced it on Tuesday with the D-Day topper by adapting her Remembrance design, only to be taken a few days later.

Ms Upton said she hoped to appeal to the "good nature" of the person who took the topper to return it.

"Please bring it back to the postbox," she said. "It's important as it brings awareness and allows people to remember D-Day."

The D-Day took place on 6 June 1944 when allied forces landed across five beaches in northern France.

Ms Upton, who made 20 toppers since 2022, said three of her creations had now been taken from the same postbox.

A crocheted owl was taken in August 2022, she said.

Ms Upton, who says she learned to crochet during the Coronavirus pandemic, said the thefts had not deterred her.

She said another topper featuring a gnome dressed in a prison outfit in chains with a swag bag would be put up on Saturday to "represent it's not going to stop me".

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