Little Girl's Sincere Apology Note Touches Twitter

@dominicjoyce7/Twitter

A little girl named Faith has made a big impression on Twitter after her handwritten note confessing to breaking a Christmas ornament inside a British retail store touched hearts and spawned a campaign to find her.

Dominic Joyce, the manager at retail chain John Lewis's branch in Cambridge, tweeted a photo of the note on Dec. 3. He wrote that there was no return address on the letter, so he wanted to thank the girl on Twitter.

The girl's note, written in pencil on white lined paper, said simply: "To John Lewis Cambridge. I'm sorry I broke a Christmas bauble on Saturday. It cost two pounds. Here is the money for it. Sorry again." It was signed "Faith, aged 5."

Taped to the note were two one-pound coins to cover the cost of the item. A rough drawing that appeared to be of a girl holding an unidentified object was also at the bottom of the note.

Touched by the girl's honesty, Twitter users re-tweeted the note more than 200 times, and, using the hash tag #FindFaith, encouraged others to help locate the girl. Several news organizations carried the story.

The campaign yielded quick results. Faith's mother got in touch with the retailer after seeing the news reports, but, because she was a "very shy little girl," didn't want her identity disclosed, Joyce said in a Friday report from the BBC News.

Joyce said the store would send Faith a gift. Joyce said the girl's note was addressed to his store's "Christmas Department." He called it "the sweetest letter."

In an interview with the London Evening Standard newspaper, Joyce thanked everyone who joined the effort to find the little girl.

"We wanted to have the opportunity to say thank you and we have now been able to do that. We hope Faith and her family have a very merry Christmas," he said.