It was a devastating moment for the students of St Thomas Canterbury Catholic Primary School when a piece of artificial turf they had raised £17,000 to afford was stolen.

Headteacher David Feasey was shocked that someone had stolen the kids' play area.

"The children couldn’t believe it and parents just couldn't believe how could anybody do that in a school.

"Local headteachers all phoned and said how awful."

Assistant head teacher Sue Breen said there was an air of vulnerability around the school at the time.

"I've worked at this school for a long time and never though I would find myself reporting on stolen grass," she said.

But a little more than a month later, something special happened.

The kids got their grass back.

REALTED: Artificial turf ripped up and stolen from Mitcham school

No, the stolen piece wasn't returned. Instead, a company close by to the Mitcham school put in its own time and effort to replace the missing patch, all for free.

"I saw this post on Facebook from the Wimbledon Guardian that the school had spent a heap of money having their grass installed and then somebody had stolen a piece of it," Jake Mehdawi from GRASSify said.

"I was like look, this is right around the corner from us and we know how life changing a green play space is for schools and young children growing up in areas with little more than concrete and tarmac to play on."

So Mr Mehdawi got in contact with the school and organised to replace the missing turf.

But this isn't any old piece of grass.

This same grass was used for a football tournament called the Star Soccer 6s in which players like Michael Ballack and Steven Gerrard took part.

"Not only can the kids get their playground back but also be inspired by some legends as well."