A pensioner has been caught on camera destroying a five-year-old boy's snowman with a shovel.
Dad Steve Curtis, 35, watched the footage in disbelief after setting up his phone to record the four-foot sculpture outside his home.
Mr Curtis had built the snowman as a surprise for his son Jacob, spending 45 minutes on the frozen figure.
The father had positioned the sculpture on the pavement near his front door after a night of heavy snowfall.
But on Monday afternoon, the Curtises' elderly neighbour was seen attacking the figure with a shovel.
"After the heavy snow, Jacob wanted to build a snowman outside," Mr Curtis said.
"It took about 45 minutes to make and it stood proudly on the pavement by the front door."
Shockingly, the snowman's destruction was the second time Jacob's figure had been destroyed.
On Monday afternoon, the Curtises' elderly neighbour was seen attacking the figure with a shovel (file photo)
|GETTY
The five-year-old's first had been knocked down before his father decided to rebuild it.
The family returned from a trip into town only to discover the original creation had vanished.
Mr Curtis said: "He was upset so as a surprise, I thought I'd rebuild one and called it the 'snow child'."
To safeguard his work, he positioned his mobile phone to record the sculpture.
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It caught the pensioner clearing snow from around his vehicle at 2.45pm, before walking over to the sculpture.
He then sliced the snowman's head off with his shovel.
Within seconds, the entire figure had been reduced to slush.
"When I finished work and came home I couldn't believe it had happened again," Mr Curtis said.
"What kind of miserable g*t deliberately destroys a little lad's snowman?"
"The snowman was nowhere near his car, it wasn't doing any harm.
"It's hard to know what he was thinking."
Jacob went on to erect a wooden cross on the family's drive following the "snow child"'s demise.