A grandmother has been left baffled after her family tortoise was 'placed' back in her garden after it had been seemingly taken in broad daylight.

Paula Savage from New Romney last saw the animal on Tuesday morning before heading to work at Nurseplus in Ashford, but found the reptile gone when she returned home that evening.

The 54 year-old launched an appeal on Facebook and in KentOnline's sister paper, the Kentish Express, to help have her pet Shelly returned, believing her to be stolen.

But a twist of fate saw the 18-year-old animal returned to her back garden in Rolfe Lane before 5.30pm on Wednesday - covered in what appeared to be white paint.

The administrator said: "It's the weirdest thing.

"The only thing I can think is that they must have took her and felt guilty.

"It looks like she was placed in [her pet] house."

Ms Savage believes the tortoise could not have been there long before she returned home yesterday: "They must have only just done it because she would have walked off from the house [in the garden].

"There was no where that she could have hidden. I will probably never know."

She noted that the animal has not spent much time inside the plastic house this summer due to the heat.

She said that the gate was locked on both days, and was confused by the white paint around her legs.

She gave the animal a wash and a big dinner of lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes as she appeared hungry.

'It might be a good thing for people with tortoises to be alert, if someone is on the prowl.' - Paula Savage, from New Romney

The pet has been part of the family for nearly two decades when she was given to Ms Savage as a present 17 years ago.

The grandmother-of-two had tortoises as a child and hopes her own will out-live her to be passed on to her grandchildren as an heirloom.

Most tortoise species can live between 80 and 150 years.

She described the incident as 'unnerving' and feels someone must have known about the tortoise's presence as she cannot climb.

Despite this, she says she is thankful to whoever may have returned the animal and has now chipped her with the vets in the event that it happens again.

She hopes that her experience will make other pet owners vigilant: "It might be a good thing for people with tortoises to be alert, if someone is on the prowl."

A police spokesman said: "We received a report of a theft of a tortoise on Tuesday, July 31 from a back garden in Rolfe Lane, New Romney.

"The owner has since contacted police to say the tortoise has been returned."