. . .to get this upset about a wheelie bin?

[Moominfamily]

3 weeks ago, our neighbours stole our wheelie bin. This is because theirs has a bent wheel that looks like it is about to fall off. I know my bin because my house is painted blue (I know, I know, it was dh) and some paint was spilled on the bin lid. Otherwise it has no identifying marks.
They took our bin, we assumed it was an error and swapped it back. They took it again the following fortnight and put hideous stickers of gnomes all over it. I asked if they had seen our bin and mentioned the paint on the lid, and they said no and very quickly changed the subject.
They are on holiday just now and I am so tempted to take it back and try to take off the stickers, trouble is I don't think I can do this successfully(and they would notice anyway as their bin wheel is dodgy!).
I don't want to confront them as I had ASBO neighbours in my last house and as a result am absolutely terrified of disputes, this is probably why I am so upset over something so minor. On the other hand, we cannot afford to replace theirs if the wheel breaks.
AIBU? and WWYD?

Glad you've found a non-confrontational way forward.

Did you discuss the theft issue with the council at all? If so what did they say?

or "stolen from no ?" in big, luminous letters

(Where does one buy stick on gnomes...I'd love some gnomes but they get nicked where I live!)

I'd tell the neighbours what you've done, smiling patronisingly all the while.

"Oh hi, Mrs X! How're you? How are you finding my old bin?
I've taken the liberty of 'phoning the coucil and organising the repair of the rickety one you dumped on my property. It was very easy, you know. Just took a quick call and a bit of gumption."

smile, smile.

oh, and do that sugestion about fly-blown raw meat in theirs too.

We had one pinched a while back and we were told we would have to pay £65 or steal someone else's. We got arsey and they gave us a free second-hand one. This then got pinched after the binmen came onto our property to get it cos I'd forgotten to put it out. I was grateful to them for emptying it, but if they hadn't it wouldn't have been pinched! In the end they gave us a shiny new one and we used a soldering iron to melt our house number into the bin. It's still with us now!

When we were on holiday, we came back and found neighbours had filled our bin to the brim with their rubbish, cos theirs was full. We weer on a fortnightly collection and it was more than a week till the next one.I emptied the rubbish into black bin bags and put it on their doorstep. Neither of us mentioned it. I did, however, tape a note inside the bin lid next time we went away, with a map to the tip.