A colourful crocheted creation intended to put a smile on people’s faces has been removed by parking wardens.

Passersby were delighted to see that a parking sign in Bridgeman Road, Teddington, had blossomed into a flower over the Easter weekend after it was decorated by a mystery yarnbomber.

But the knitted cover was removed and taken to Teddington police station by a parking warden employed by Richmond Council’s contractor Vinci Park on Tuesday, April 23.

A Vinci Park spokesman said the woolly creation was removed by a member of staff due to concerns the colourful creation may obscure parking time information.

The council, which promoted the yarnbomb flower on its Twitter feed, has come to the rescue and offered to bail out the street art from behind bars.

A council spokesman said: “Richmond Council did not authorise the removal of the knitted sign cover.

“We have now spoken to the police to retrieve the cover and will reinstall it on the sign as soon as it arrives.”

This latest slip up comes a week after the council urged Vinci Park to investigate its traffic wardens, who were spotted issuing tickets while illegally parking their own vehicles in disabled bays in Hampton.

A second example of yarnbombing, or guerrilla knitting, sprung up in Hampton Wick weeks after the flower blossomed.

The second woolly wonder decorates a parking post in Seymour Road, but the crafty creators of both art works remains a mystery.