A little girl has been left heartbroken after thieves stole pumpkins from her stall which was raising money for the children's ward at the Queen's Medical Centre.
Three-year-old Emilia Hawthorne helped to run the stall with her older brother Arthur, four, and mum Sarah, in Flawborough, Nottinghamshire.
All the money raised was going towards the children's East ward at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, where Arthur regularly has treatment.
However, on Sunday, October 10, two men pulled up in their car and stole them - leaving Emilia very upset and meaning they had to close the stall down.
Sarah Hawthorne said: "My little girl was really upset.
"We looked on the camera and we saw the men pulling the pumpkins into the car but we couldn't see the registration plate or anything.
"It's a real shame. My little boy has to go to the QMC on quite a regular basis and we wanted to give something back to the hospital.
"There are so many poorly kids they look after. Every time Arthur goes in they are so lovely to him, sometimes when he has to have a blood test they give him a toy to play with.
"She's just really sad about it. She said 'mummy we can't give the poorly children any money anymore'.
"She asked me the other day 'what if the robbers steal the poorly children next?'"
Sarah was asked to start a Gofundme page so people could buy 'virtual pumpkins' instead, and reluctantly agreed - asking for £1 if anyone wanted to buy one.
She set the goal at £100 and, after just a few days, more than £1,300 has been raised which will now be donated to the hospital.
"We don't like asking for money," Sarah explained.
"But so many people wanted to donate when they saw what had happened.
"All the proceeds are going to charity and we've been blown away by how generous everyone has been. Everyone has been so kind."
When people learnt about what happened, they were horrified and wrote messages of support to the family for their fundraising efforts.
One donater wrote: "Absolutely disgusted by the thieves that stole your pumpkins. Here's a small donation to restore some faith in humanity."
"I don’t want a child’s innocence ruined by the needless actions of others," another said.
The family still have a few pumpkins left and they will be selling them from the stall at their farm in Flawborough over the weekend.
Anyone who wishes to donate to the Gofundme page can click here.
