TWO prodigal scarecrows who went amiss when their friends were massacred have been welcomed back to the fold.

The Hei People were faceless and nameless scarecrows made by Finnish artist Reijo Kela and appeared overnight in four north Kent locations as part of an arts project.

However, within days of appearing in Medway, Dartford, Gravesham and Swale many of the straw art installations were ripped to shreds by vandals.

But thanks to one good samaritan, two of the strange fellows have now made it back to their friends.

Christine Cavender was so moved when a pair of the beleagered hay-filled people turned up tied to the gates of the Medway Messenger's offices with their heads missing that she decided to reunite them with their other remaining friends.

Christine, a marketing and promotions assistant for the Kent Messenger Group, said: "I live in Higham and often pass the A227 at Shorne. I had really enjoyed seeing the scarecrows in a field off the road so when I saw these two had been taken and left on our gates I felt like rescuing them.

"Even though they had no heads and were a bit creepy, I wanted to take them back."

The group of Hei People have now been removed from Shorne, but the two wanderers will join the ranks of other scarecrows still on display at Cowstead Farm on Sheppey.

Lyndsey Thompson, of the North Kent Local Authorities Arts Partnership, which organised the Hei displays, said the pair must have been stolen from either the Shorne display or the one at Fort Amherst in Chatham, which was also vandalised.

She said: "This pair will even get new heads and new outfits so thanks very much to Christine."