A WELLING allotment holder got a nasty shock when she found her poor prize pumpkin had been slashed.
Jenny Jones, 51, went to tend to her plot at the Rosemary Road allotment on Sunday only to find a gruesome grin had been carved into a six stone monster she had spent months growing.
Not only that but the seeds had been swiped from inside leading the mother-of-two to suspect foul play by one of her fellow allotment holders.
The school invigilator suspects jealousy may have been the motivation in the run-up to a fruit and veg growing competition on November 2.
The scars from the pumpkin attack.
She told News Shopper: "I was a bit concerned about this one because it was getting a lot of attention.
"I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it was someone else at the allotment who did it - a bit of allotment wars going on.
"There is a competition going on up here. I wasn’t going to enter it because it’s too big and no one else will have a chance but I hadn’t actually said that to anyone because I thought that would be a bit unfair."
Mrs Jones says she would have suspected local youths out for a laugh but for the fact the mystery vandal took the seeds with them.
Mrs Jones with her two surviving pumpkins.
She said: "If it was another allotment holder this is a different level as far as I am concerned.
"It is the seed thing that makes me suspicious. I am aware things like this go on but until it happens to you you don’t really think much about it.
"I am hoping it was kids but you never know."
Mrs Jones has two other giant pumpkins safely stored away at her home round the corner in Dryden Road she shares with her agriculturalist husband Les, 54.
At least these two should make it through to Halloween intact.
Unfortunately she hadn’t got around to moving the other one before the phantom vandal struck.
Mrs Jones said: "They were so big we could only bring them home one at a time in a wheelbarrow.
"I have so much pumpkin flesh I don’t know what to do with it and I was going to cut the last one up and share the seeds around the allotment.
"This has really surprised me."
Have you been caught up in any "allotment wars" or do you have a pumpkin to rival Jenny Jones' in the run up to Halloween? E-mail tim.macfarlan@london.newsquest.co.uk or tweet @NewsShopperTim
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