Couple 3D prints gifts after 'pets' stolen from 12-year-old with autism

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Sam will never forget the day she first noticed the bunny she named Soap.

"[I called her that] because I found him in the soap aisle," Sam explains with a laugh.

Seeing as the rabbit lawn ornament was in the wrong aisle, the then eight-year-old and her mom, Tina, searched all over the store for his family.

"And when we couldn’t find another bunny she’s like, 'Mom! We can’t leave him,'" Tina recalls. "So we had to buy Soap."

It was similar with Chonkers. Sam noticed that the blue bird ornament was the last one on the shelf and couldn’t bare for her to be lonely. So Sam created a home for Chonkers and Soap along the railing of their front deck. A cement pig — that was named Pig when Sam was born — joined them.

"Instant serotonin!" Sam giggles, describing the feeling of being greeted by the trio every day.

"Sam is autistic," Tina explains how her now 12-year-old daughter pets the lawn ornaments and spends time with them daily. "They’re her comfort."

So you can image how Sam felt when she arrived home the other day to find that — after years of having her "pets" be part of her daily routine — they were gone.

"When she realized her friends were missing, it was heartbreaking," Tina says fighting back tears. "These were things she loved."

Sam put up a sign on the front lawn requesting her pets' return. It said, "No questions asked" and, "just please put them back." Sam signed it with a drawing of a crying face.

"Who takes them away from a kid?" Sam asks. "It’s like taking a dog away."

Sam says she’s hoping someone will return her pets because, like a "real" dog, they can’t be replaced.

Tina also shared Sam’s plea for her pets with a post on social media. It was noticed by Jeremy from Praticus Creations.

"We all know what it’s like to have our day uprooted all of a sudden," Jeremy says. "So we tried to help."

Jeremy designed some digital creatures on the computer, before creating actual ones with a 3D printer. Then his wife, Deanna, spent the rest of the weekend bringing them to life with paint.

"We really hope we can recreate what [Sam] had going for her before they were stolen," Jeremy says.

This morning, Jeremy surprised Sam with a fox, raccoon, and dragon.

"Oh this is so cool! This is so cute!" Sam squeals before smiling at each one. "Thank you!"

Jeremy replies with an enthusiastic "You’re welcome!" Obviously pleased that he and Deanna’s gift was so well received.

Tina says she couldn’t be more grateful for their act of kindness and to the other strangers who’ve reached out to help.

"Even though there are bad people," Tina says she’s learned "there are way more good people."

Meanwhile, Sam is not giving up hope that one day Soap, Chonkers, and Pig will return and meet the new pets she’s named Tails, Seuss and Moonshine.

"Honestly this feels good," Sam says before kneeling on the lawn to play with her new friends. "[On a scale of one to 10] it’s 1,000!"