Police believe burglars who ransacked a Co Armagh house on Monday night may have lay in wait for the owner to leave.
A house in the Ardowen area of Craigavon was ransacked sometime between 7pm and 8.30pm.
The back door had been forced and a significant quantity of jewellery had been stolen, both of financial and sentimental value.
Police in Craigavon have appealed for witnesses.
“With the tight time scale while the home owner was out, it is possible someone had been watching the house,” said a police spokesperson.
“They may well have been wearing gloves, and probably approached the area trying to conceal their identity.
“Did you see anyone, or indeed multiple people, during that time last night? Do you know who is responsible? Someone out there does.
“The people responsible will have opened their mouth to someone and let slip what they’ve done, or will have tried to sell on some nice jewellery in the last 24 hours.
“Someone reading this will know something VITAL to this investigation and be in 2 minds as to what to do.
“Be assured, if you come forward with information on an identity, and we can catch these people with evidence that links them to this – that will be enough.
“They won’t know where the name came from. For all they know, someone – one of the hundreds who live in the area – will have recognised them arriving or leaving and phoned us.
“Maybe it was CCTV from a nearby house? It’ll make them paranoid, it’ll make them second guess who they can trust. It will make them less likely to torment another home owner.
“It’s not right that our homes can’t be safe from bullies who break in where they like to take what they want. To combat that, we can’t be everywhere at once.
“The community relies on us to investigate and prevent what we can, but more so they rely on YOU for timely reports of suspicious activity, and detailed, honest information after incidents such as this occur.
“The incident number is 1229 of 20/11/17. You can call us on 101, speak to the Craigavon NPT by calling them, or speak completely anonymously to Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111.
“Please, for the victims sake and for the communities sake, don’t sit silently if you know something. Please share this post or tag anyone who lives locally.”
