WHERE there was once a sea of yellow, there now lies a dried-up wasteland devoid of life and colour.

As you can see from the picture, that may well be stretching the point somewhat, but visitors to Castle Meadows have been asking for some time where all the daffodils have gone from the Memorial Bank in the copse.

The symbolic flowers were brought by the Friends of Castle Meadows from their own funds.

Their eye-catching and otherworldly bloom was particularly significant because they were planted and growing on the Memorial Bank, which honours all those who have died in any conflict between 1918 and 2018.

However, the daffodils have all been stolen by a gang of flower thieves who carried out their crime unseen and unheard.

It is believed the daffodils were dug up by the dirty rotters just before Mother’s Day earlier this month.

A spokesperson for Friends of the Castle Meadows explained, “Such mindless vandalism is very distressing to all the volunteers who work in the copse and on the Meadows.

“All the daffodils which were growing on The Memorial Bank in the copse have been dug up, apparently to celebrate Mother’s Day last weekend.

“This is very sad. They had made a glorious display and had received lots of praise from people passing through the copse.”

The spokesperson added, “As if this theft was not enough, these thieves also dug up some trees which were planted by local school children last Summer.

“The children were so proud that their trees would still be in this corner of Abergavenny, wherever in the world they went.”

The Friends work in Castle Meadows on a Thursday every other week and on the first Saturday of each month.