A PRIZED 35-year-old cactus has disappeared from a Southampton home.

The plant, which stands 16 inches tall and 12 inches wide, was a prized possession of owner and keen gardener Louise Forster, who said it provided a sentimental link to her late uncle.

Ms Forster’s said she believed it had been taken by someone from the doorstep of the 62-year-old’s home in Waterhouse Lane, Millbrook, where it has sat for the last 20 years. She said: “I half-heartedly hope that it will leave little cacti needles in them.”

The plant has been nurtured since it was given to Ms Forster as a present from uncle Alan Mortimer, from Bournemouth, who she was particularly close to and who died only five years later.

“He said ‘there you go see if you can grow that’,” said Ms Forster. “That has been my challenge and it has been with me all that time.”