A distraught grandad has appealed for help in tracking down a pet duck called Donald and its friend Belinda the chicken.

Paul Atkinson believes both birds were stolen by thieves who broke into his back garden in Maidstone.

In a bid to get the pets returned, he has issued a plea on Facebook.

Scroll down for video

He said: “Unfortunately, some low life idiot, or idiots, decided to break into our garden sometime early this morning. They stole Donald and his little friend Belinda, a white chicken, and let the other chickens out.

“We are heartbroken that two of our pets have been taken. Our grandchildren loved the pair of them.

We are heartbroken that two of our pets have been taken. Our grandchildren loved the pair of them

“Please share this and if you hear of any low-life scum trying to sell them on, please get in touch with the police or us.”

He posted the message at 9.35am on Friday with photos of the two birds and a video of Donald. The post has since been shared 700 times, often with the hashtag #bringdonaldhome.

Mr Atkinson, 49, a father-of-four who teaches horticulture, admitted: “I am bewildered by the reaction. It has gone craze. I uploaded a video of Donald, an Indian Runner duck, and it has had 100,000 views.

“I just hope the thieves feel guilty and return them. The birds have very little monetary value, about £12, but they are part of our family.”

He said: “Donald only joined us last year. We re-homed him after his mate and other chickens were killed by a fox. He curled up on his wife and it took three days to prise him away.

“But he settled with us very quickly and seemed to take a particular shine to Belinda. The pair seemed to become joined at the hip and followed each other around the garden.

“Normally you have to shoo a duck to bed but he’d just follow Belinda into the coop and settle down.”

Mr Atkinson said he noticed Donald and Belinda were missing on Friday morning when he went to put the dustbins out at his home in South Park Road and found the padlocked back-gate wide open.

He said: “We are pretty sure the birds have been stolen. There was no blood or feathers we would have expected if they had been attacked by a fox. We are all desperately upset, especially our grandsons.

“We have two, aged three and six, and the eldest often helps clean the coop and collect eggs. They will be devastated.”

Police confirmed they received a report of the alleged duck-nap.