A Scots funeral director spoke of his joy after he was reunited with his dad's memorial ornament thanks to the power of Facebook.
Paul O'Connor's two children laid a special flower stand on his dad's grave last year to mark the one year anniversary of his death.
It read PAPA, and Paul and his family were devastated when they thought it had been destroyed after it had gone missing.
However, when the Falkirk man looked on Facebook last weekend, he discovered it had been found in Camelon canal by a magnet fisherman.
Delighted, Paul got in touch and they met up on Monday when he received it back, plus a bouquet of flowers for his dad John's grave.
The 43-year-old thinks it was a sign from above that he managed to find it after his family feared it was gone forever.
He told the Record: "This ornament was removed from my dad's grave months ago, I think it was January and we reported it to the police as missing at the time.
"They did find the culprit, and went to recover it but unfortunately were told that it had been destroyed so they got a police warning.
"Anyway, on Sunday these guys were doing magnet fishing at the canal on Union Inn at auntie Katie's in Camelon and they came across it and put it up on Facebook so they could return it to the rightful owner's grave.
"And believe it or not, I was at my friends having coffee when a white feather fell in my lap and I looked up as if to say is that my dad, he's only been passed away for not even a few years now.
"I came home, and had a look through Facebook and saw this being advertised on the local pages and immediately got in touch.
"The guy was really nice, he came and met me on Monday to put it back on my dad's grave, and brought some flowers as well, and refused to take any money or anything."
Paul's dad John was also a funeral director and died suddenly at the age of 59 in November 2019.
When he passed away, he was a few days short of his 60th birthday and was about to go on a Caribbean cruise with his wife.
To mark the year's anniversary, Paul's sons Bailey and Toby put down the special flower stand but it was stolen two months later in January.
Paul detailed how upset he was when he found out that it went missing.
"I was absolutely disgusted when I went to the grave and found that it had been stolen, it was a horrendous situation.
"We felt absolutely terrible and horrific, to think that not only a human being could take it off the grave, but they could take it off the grave and dispose of it like that.
"It makes the story even more heartwarming that the boys got it back as we never thought we would see it again."
Paul detailed his thanks to Josh Sheridan, the man who found the ornament and Marky Mc who handed it back to him as soon as he was able to.
He added: "When I first saw it on Facebook, I felt fantastic, I couldn't believe it, I was in disbelief to honest.
"I was hoping it was the same one, it is a bespoke standard with Papa on the top, I felt like my dad was looking down on me."
Josh, 18, runs the Sticky Magnets, a social media magnet fishing group.
He added: "I've found guns and grenades before but I think this is one of my best finds because it has brought some closure to the family.
"When I pulled it up, I thought it just another find but after some research found that it was quite important."
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