A GROUP of faceless gardeners have set about brightening up their neighbourhood by planting bulbs on barren patches of land.

Brighton’s guerrilla gardeners, who go by the name of CommuniTree, plant all sorts of flowers around the city with the intention of making people smile.

However, the kind-hearted group has been rocked after a number of their daffodils in the Fiveways area appear to have been dug up and stolen.

Artist Adam Johnson, who founded the project last summer, said: “I’m a resident here and I noticed a lot of derelict land.

“So I thought it was quite nice as part of my daily commute to plant and have a bit of happiness in each square. So there’s something to make people smile as they go to work.”

Talking about the apparent theft of the daffodils, he said: “The trees along Stanford Avenue did have loads of daffodils all the way up.

“They got to about six inches and you can still see the bulbs so I think someone thought it was their chance to get some daffodils.

“At least they are still growing somewhere so that’s a positive.”

A mask made as part of a school project which made up a display on one of the patches in Florence Road also appears to have been stolen.

Mr Johnson said: “It’s for everybody, everyone can get involved and we’ve only just started it to show what can happen with these derelict spaces. “Everyone has them outside of their houses and if they were all full of flowers it would be beautiful and it would be a happier place.”

The suspected thefts come just weeks after a story in the national newspapers about supermarkets being urged by keep daffodils away from the fruit and vegetable aisles so they were not confused by hungry customers.

Public Health England made the plea after 27 cases of poisoning.

But it is not just problems with people stealing bulbs, as website designer for Communitree Daniel Mackey explained.

He said: “We are constantly battling against the patches getting trod on and bulbs kicked in.

“Hopefully when the seeds start growing there will still be some left for everyone to enjoy.”

For more information about how you can get involved with CommuniTree, find them on Twitter at @joinCommunitree.