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A Chesterfield pensioner who built a display marking the coronation is appealing for its return following its theft from his front garden.

John Green, 76, says the two steel crowns – spray-painted gold and silver to represent those worn by King Charles III and Queen Camilla – disappeared sometime overnight between January 29 and January 30.

Retired botany researcher John had left the crowns – supported by a wooden framework – permanently outside his New Queen Street home following the May ceremony.

John believes the crowns – worth around £40 – could have been swiped by an opportunist or an “anti-royalist”.

The two steel crowns – spray-painted gold and silver to represent those worn by King Charles III and Queen Camilla

He said: “The crowns were still up and hey-ho, someone’s stolen them during the night, obviously they’re not a royalist.

"I thought it would be a memorable thing to build because in many of our lifetimes we will probably never see another coronation.

"So I felt it was important to contribute in some way – a lot of people enjoy the displays.”

Speaking about the royal family, John said: “The alternative is a lot worse, if you look around the world today it's better to support a royal family than not.

John Green's home-made coronation throne – made of wood symbolic of that which still sits in Westminster Abbey complete with a cushion representing the Stone of Scone

"I think as an Englishman it’s my duty to support them.”

John also built a coronation throne – made of wood symbolic of that which still sits in Westminster Abbey complete with a cushion representing the Stone of Scone.

However the chair remains safely in John’s hands, having been removed from its place on the pavement outside his home after the coronation.

It was loaned for a time, said John, to the Annunciation Roman Catholic Church nearby, where children took turns having their photo taken sitting on it.

Speaking about the crowns, keen gardener John said: “It's sad when things like that happen, it upsets me a bit because I go to effort to display things that are attractive to people passing down the road.

"When someone just steals things it’s sad really- the trouble is so many people have different views on these things.

"I think the country is big enough for people to have different views on these things, but I think they should be restrained within the law.”

Anyone with information about the whereabouts of the crowns should phone the police on 101, quoting crime reference 24000062427.

Chesterfield pensioner saddened by theft of home-made coronation display for King Charles III and Queen Camilla