A Kiwi mum fears a burglar has eaten her son's placenta after nicking it from her freezer.
Loralie Burns, from Sunnyvale, west Auckland, recently moved to a new house nearby but some of her kitchen appliances including her fridge-freezer were still at the old property.
The 35-year-old found out today from her former landlord that frozen meat was stolen from the freezer - including a tupperware container which had her son's placenta stored in it.
The horrified mum has issued a plea on Facebook for its return.
"Please to whoever went through my old house / next door & felt the need to take the meat from the freezer," she wrote. "PLEASE return the item in the blue tupperware container as it contains my son's placenta.
"I don't care how it comes back, I don't need to know who...just please get it back to me asap!
"If you know someone who brought home a few roasts last night please check your freezers."
Burns kept the placenta after her son Dante was born five months ago and she planned to bury it somewhere significant.
She couldn't remember if the container had been labelled by her midwife and is worried the thief would mistakenly eat it.
Shocked friends posted messages of support on Facebook.
"Omg I hope they don't eat it," one friend wrote.
Another posted: "Dats just creepy babe..i hope u get it back.. wats wrong with people."