A dad has been slammed for stealing his neighbour's garden gnome because it made his five-year-old son cry with fear. The man explained how his neighbour has a "tacky" gnome village in her front garden and recently added another one to her collection - but for whatever reason, his son has taken a particular dislike to the new garden ornament.
Taking to Reddit, the dad said: "My neighbour Cindy has a large front garden. She grows flowers and some produce. Sometimes she comes over with extras which is nice.
"She also has a gnome village in her garden. You know those tacky garden gnomes you see in lawn and garden stores that you can paint or what not.
"Well, recently Cindy got a new gnome. The gnome is just a normal gnome with like a gardening hoe and a basket of flowers."
But after watching his son burst into tears over the new gnome, the dad decided to speak with 34-year-old Cindy about the issue he was facing.
He asked her whether she could move the garden ornament to the back of her garden or place it behind the bushes on her patio - but she outright refused.
"A few days ago my son was outside playing and his ball rolled into Cindy's yard," he added.
"He refused to go get it, crying and begging me to get the ball. I got the ball and moved the gnome behind some flower bushes. My plan was to move it back once my son stopped playing.
"Cindy came out to water the garden, noticed the gnome was gone and demanded to know where it was.
"She even threatened to call the police on me! Over a gnome! After I gave her back the gnome, Cindy told me not to come on her property again."
Annoyed by Cindy's reaction, the man vented to his wife, claiming their neighbour "overreacted" about him moving the garden ornament.
However, she didn't give him the response he was after.
He said: "She also thinks I shouldn't have taken the gnome. She says our son will get over his fear in time or he'll just have to play in the back.
"I think our son has a right to play in his own front yard without being scared of a gnome."
While most users agreed that he shouldn't have stolen the gnome, others questioned the lesson he was trying to teach his son.
One user said: "You have a responsibility as a parent to explain irrational fears to your child. Not steal stuff from your neighbours."
Another user added: "You could have shown your child that the gnome wasn't scary.
"You could have given him a quest to venture out into the mystical land of the gnomes to retrieve his ball back and he could have conquered his fear.
"Instead, you enabled his fear which only reaffirms it."
A third user said: "You don’t just touch other people's stuff and think that’s okay just because your kid is afraid of a stupid gnome."
Do you have a strange story to share? Email paige.freshwater@reachplc.com.
