BUDDING detectives are searching for six lost horticultural trophies that went missing from the Stroud Country Show before the Foot and Mouth crisis.
Show organisers are desperate to find the silver trophies, believed to have disappeared in the late 1990s, so they can be handed out to champion gardeners at next year's event.
"My guess is they were presented and never collected," said Tony Wyatt, who is leading the search. "They have just vanished off the face of the earth.
"They are probably gathering dust on someone's mantelpiece but they could be in a bank vault or in a cardboard box at the back of someone's garage - we just don't know."
The show was resurrected last year after being cancelled during the Foot and Mouth crisis in 2001 - and organisers see recovering the silver gongs as a crucial part of regaining the show's identity.
Show organiser Edna Powell said: "We would like them back as soon as possible. It would be super to have them ready to be presented at next year's show."
Anyone with information on the trophies' whereabouts can call Tony Wyatt on 01453 752115.
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