IT was meant to be a poignant farewell for her loving great granddad.

Florist Helena Kerr had helped to create four colourful floral displays in memory of 92-year-old Ted Rowat.

But just hours after the funeral of the retired school caretaker, thieves stole the tributes left by his grieving family after the memorial service.

The family believes the arrangements could have been taken to give away as Valentine's Day gifts.

The displays, which included a variety of spring flowers, had been particularly significant because Mr Rowat was partially sighted and could only see bright colours.

Mr Rowat's daughter, Joan Beard, visited Southampton Crematorium shortly after the funeral service with her husband Terry and daughter Sue, only to find the flowers had vanished.

She said: "I feel absolutely distraught.

"When I first saw the flowers were gone I didn't know what to think.

"We went to see if they had been put somewhere else but they hadn't.

"We asked people there but nobody could help us. We just weren't expecting anything like that to happen. Everyone is absolutely gutted.

"My dad had a good life and was a lovely man but there's no way he would have been happy about this."

The 71-year-old from West End added: "I didn't get a chance to look at the flowers properly on the day of the service and I wanted a few quiet moments to do so.

"Who could possibly give someone flowers on Valentine's Day knowing they had been stolen from a crematorium? It's just appalling."

Mr Rowat died on February 2 and was cremated at the Bugle Street crematorium on Monday.

He had been a supporter of the Fire Service Benevolent Fund and friends were asked to donate money to the charity rather than buy floral tributes.

The only flowers at the funeral were directly from the family themselves but Mrs Beard now believes the tributes, stolen sometime between Monday night and Tuesday morning may have been given away as a Valentine's Day gift.

Mrs Kerr, 30, said: "The flowers were my way of doing something on behalf of the family. When I found out what happened I was incensed. I don't understand how anybody could do something like that. They just can't be replaced."

A Southampton City Council spokesman said: "We have been in contact with Mrs Beard and we have looked for the flowers. She has our sympathy that this has happened, especially at a clearly difficult time.

"When the crematorium staff went to tidy up only the label had been left on the ground.

"This has happened occasionally before because of theft, but mostly through well-meaning people removing the flowers and taking them to relatives or for display elsewhere without informing the family.

"Security is maintained at the crematorium and regular patrols take place at night but it does not merit a CCTV system."