All Craig and Catherine Welsh want is the return of family heirlooms, including war medals, taken during the burglary of their Canterbury home.
They are now scouring social media sites, including Facebook Marketplace, and have been in contact with pawn shops, in the hope they will turn up.
Their home in Rolleston was broken into two weekends ago when they were away on holiday.
It was one of three separate incidents reported since January 1. Among the items stolen were the military medals, including a Pacific Star medal, distinctive jewellery and a go-kart.
Police are appealing for any information that could reunite these items with their rightful owners.
Catherine said the burglary was devastating.
The burglar took her late father Corporal Doug Stanton’s military medals. He served in Malaya, Borneo, and Vietnam where he was wounded in the leg on Valentine’s Day 1968.
She said her father would be angry about the theft.
“He’d be pretty furious, not only did he serve but when he retired he was the area rep for the Hawke’s Bay Vietnam Association and president of the Taradale RSA,” she said.
The medals represented much more than her father’s service.
“It was everything he did, the ethos he lived by, his conduct as a soldier and a veteran. To us, as a family, you cannot replace that.”
Catherine said she noticed immediately “something different” when they returned home – some of the curtains had been drawn. Once inside they quickly realised there had been a burglary.
TVs had been unscrewed from walls and left on the floor, possibly indicating the burglar was going to return.
They soon realised the medals were also gone.
The emotional damage of being broken into, particularly for their sons, was also evident.
Catherine said it was difficult calling her brother about the loss of the medals. “In our family, medals are passed to the eldest sibling – they are not given, they are entrusted to – was hard calling my brother in Australia and hearing his voice crack,” she said.
They said they’ve been lucky with support from neighbours, and urged people to check in on each other if they notice something out of place.
Said Craig: “I know how hard this is hurting Catherine, out of everything that was taken if Doug’s medals were returned it would help Catherine a lot – that one thing would make a big difference.”
Said Catherine: “The mana and tapu of the medals is of such value that you cannot buy and sell. “For us, especially the medals, there’s no real monetary value for the thieves and buyers, but they’re invaluable to the ones who know and love the people who earned them.”
- If you have any information that could help find the stolen items, call the police on 105 and use reference number 250123/2449. Or call Crime Stoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
