Brighton shopkeeper’s plea for thief to return snowman

Soly Daneshmand, who owns vintage shop Ju-Ju in the North Laine, arrived at work yesterday morning to find her prized snowman, Frosty, was not outside the shop where she had left it the night before.

She has displayed the 4ft snowman at Christmas for the last five years and said the loss was hugely upsetting.

Soly said the festive decoration attracted children and potential customers to her shop in Gloucester Road and lots of people took pictures of it.

She said: “While the parents are taking photos, they are looking in the window.”

Soly, who sells vintage clothes, fears she will lose some of her Christmas customers as a result.

Shopkeeper Soly Daneshmand was heartbroken to find Frosty the Snowman had disappeared (Image: NQ Staff)

Soly said she was very attached to the snowman and hopes it might have been taken "by mistake".

She has several smaller “baby” snowmen but is reluctant to put these outside the shop as she does not want them to go missing too.

Soly, who owns the shop with Tim Price, issued a plea to the “lovely people of Brighton” to return Frosty the Snowman and said: “If you’ve had your fun, bring it back.”

She has placed a large sign outside the shop urging the jokers to "do the right thing" and the pair have offered a £5 reward as an incentive.

She said: "It's Christmas, be generous in spirit."

Tim said: "I think we should have a massive campaign to find Frosty before Christmas."

Soly and her co-owner, Tim have proudly displayed the decoration for the last five Christmasses. (Image: Ju-Ju)

It is not the first time Christmas decorations have been stolen - in 2018 more than 6,000 lights were taken from a Christmas tree outside a church in Burgess Hill.