Lily's banana plant. How to mend a broken heart (5 photos)

Lily Alton is four-years old.

As four-year olds are often want to do, she planted a seed to grow a plant.

Over the weeks that followed Lily nurtured that seed into a banana seedling, then a full-blown banana plant.

But then last Monday Lily's mom, Sarah, discovered that the banana plant was gone from the family's porch.

Sarah and her husband had the difficult job of explaining to their innocent four-year old what stealing was.

"Maybe they just took it on a walk," was one of Lily's first responses to the idea that someone had come, uninvited, into their porch, picked up her banana plant and taken it away.

All sorts of thoughts flashed through Sarah's mind about what may have happened to her daughter's beloved plant.

She thought maybe some drunk just grabbed it and they'd find it smashed somewhere in an alley near the family's downtown home.

Maybe some kids took it as a prank.

Either way, Lily's plant was gone and she was devastated.

"Why would they take it?" she asked. "It wasn't theirs it was mine."

But instead of spending all her time crying about it, Lily decided to do something to get it back.

She asked her mom if they could make signs to put up in the neighbourhood.

"To the person who took the plant off our porch... you are stealing a 4yr old's banana plant," said the signs. "She is sad. Please return it if you have a heart."

Lily and Sarah also added that Lily had planted the plant in the spring and nurtured it all summer, that she had named it and that she doesn't understand why someone would take something that doesn't belong to them.

The Alton's neighbours and businesses nearby were glad to help.

But by Wednesday at bedtime for Lily the banana plant was still not back.

"But Daddy I miss it so much," she cried. "It was my favourite."

Around 9 p.m. Sarah glanced out on the porch, not really expecting to see it.

It was back.

And it had two beautiful dried flowers added in the pot.

Lily's mom and dad were so thrilled that they woke her up to see it.

"They cared about my feelings!" Lily said.

They left the signs up a little bit longer but they have something added.

"Thank you for bringing it back and considering her feelings," says the pretty pink post it stuck on the sign.

"It was such a nice surprise to open the door and have it sitting there. She went to bed knowing it was home."