AN elderly woman has been left baffled after finding dozens of eggs buried in her garden over the last year.

Rose Ritchie, aged 78 first came across an egg last summer when she spotted a shell while weeding.

Weeks later she found another egg lying on the grass in her back garden while another was in a plant pot.

On another occasion, she found one of the shop-bought eggs on the edge of her pond at her home in the village of Studley.

At first, she thought they could be animal or bird eggs but the mystery took a twist when she noticed they were all stamped with different dates.

Rose said: “At first I thought a fox might have stolen them from a hen house and hidden them here for another time.

“Then I saw they had the Lion mark on them meaning they must have been bought from a shop.

“At the time there was a big Tesco at the top of the road but when that closed these
eggs kept turning up.

“They’ve turned up everywhere and sometimes they are very well hidden.

“On one occasion last year, I was doing some weeding and I dug down a couple of inches into the soil and I spotted this pink thing.

“I thought it was a stone until I picked it out of the dirt and realised it was an egg.”

Redditch Advertiser: Rose Ritchie, aged 78.Rose Ritchie, aged 78. (Image: SWNS.)

Rose’s family took to Facebook in a bid to solve the mystery and was flooded with bizarre explanations and wild theories.

Some social media users suggested an animal was stealing the eggs from a nearby shop before stashing them in Rose’s garden.

Meanwhile, others said a prankster may be behind the eggs and others claimed it was a form of witchcraft.

Rose, who celebrated her diamond wedding anniversary with her husband Joe, aged 82, in March, said: “It’s an amusing mystery but I’d love to know the truth.

“I don’t think it’s a prank because most of the eggs have been found in the back garden which is gated so someone would have to climb over each time.

“Someone even suggested that it’s a type of witchcraft whereby eggs are left at people’s homes to steal their happiness.

“I don’t really believe that theory. I personally think it must be an animal or a bird which is stealing the eggs from a supermarket on a fairly regular basis.

“The eggs are always unbroken and have stamps on them.

"We never eat them, instead I'm careful not to break them and I put them in the bin."

Rosie and Joe are now setting up secret cameras in a bid to find out who or what is hiding the eggs in their garden.