GRANDAD Shamus Carol was jumping mad to find a 14ft trampoline had been pinched from his garden.

The giant jumping toy was bought for Seamus’s daughter Catherine four or five years ago and had become a permanent fixture in the family’s Walcot garden, until one night it mysteriously disappeared.

Seamus and Sally’s grandchildren Grace, six and five year old James loved to bounce around on the trampoline, and are now sad to learn their fun will be with two feet on the ground.

The trampoline is believed to have been stolen from the family’s South View Avenue garden on Monday evening. It is believed the thieves may have spotted it through the fence before plotting the mission to lift the mammoth toy out.

“It was a massive great big trampoline, 14-foot across,” said Seamus.

“We believe it happened Monday evening and have reported it to the police.

“They would have had to dismantle it to take it out over a 6ft6in fence.

“It’s just weird.

“It is so big we thought it was safe.

“But it has been dismantled without waking anybody up.

“It completely vanished over night apart from two springs and part of one leg.

“I’ve got a feeling they tried to come back for the rest the other night because there was someone in the garden who disappeared over the fence.

“When it was taken, my wife Sally said to me ‘have you noticed anything different in the garden?’ I looked out and said ‘No, it seems to be alright’. Then she pointed out that the vast trampoline had gone.

“We’ve had the trampoline about four or five years.

I normally take it down in the winter, but this year I left it up.

“It was originally for my daughter Catherine, but she’s 16 now, but my two grandchildren, who are five and six, play on it when they come round.

“They’ll miss it big time, so we’ll have to try and get it replaced.

“It just seems like such an odd thing to steal, that we hope someone might have seen it.

“Someone must have seen something when they were trying to get it out. They must have used a car or a van to take it away. You couldn’t carry that big thing very far.

“The house is more or less next to Lainesmead School and there’s a cycle path down the side of the garden.

“I think they must have seen it through the fence then decided to come back for it.

“The police found a screwdriver in the garden which they have taken away for forensic examination.

“It seems crazy that anyone would take apart and steal a giant trampoline in the middle of the night.”

Anyone with any information on the whereabouts of the Carol family’s trampoline is urged to contact Swindon police on 0845 408 7000.