A young autistic boy was left devastated after his pumpkin was stolen and smashed up.

The youngster had been excited to carve his first pumpkin all by himself and proudly put it on his doorstep in Gillingham ready for trick-or-treaters.

But within an hour of displaying his creation, the six-year-old’s mum Nadine said it had been taken from the front of the house and smashed into pieces down the road.

She said: “This was the first year my son had actually attempted to carve a pumpkin on his own and after just one hour of it being on my doorstep some scumbag took it three doors down and smashed it up right in eye sight for him to see.”

Nadine said her son is now desperate “to catch the bad guy”.

In Blean, near Canterbury, a delivery driver was caught on camera appearing to steal a child's pumpkin while dropping off an Amazon package.

“It’s such a shame at Halloween,” Nadine added. “All the trolls come out and spoil it for the littlens.”