A Wanganui youngster's family holiday to Napier ended in tears after a thief made off with the scooter she was given for Christmas.
"She was a very upset wee girl," her grandmother, Colleen Pryce, said.
Tayla, 7, had hardly let the $160 black and red Bulletproof brand scooter out of her sight since unwrapping it on Christmas morning and had enjoyed joining her brother, who was also given a scooter, for ramp rides at Sk8 Zone on Marine Parade.
But after Mrs Pryce had taken her to a shop for a walk last Thursday - "She scooted all the way there and back" - the youngster forget to put it in the garage of the unit the family had rented for a week off Caxton St in Onekawa.
"We forgot to ask her if she had put it away."
The next morning it was gone.
"Someone's gone past, seen it and grabbed it," Mrs Pryce said.
The family reported the theft to police but hold little hope of seeing it again.
The family returned home, scooterless, on Saturday.
Mrs Pryce appealed for anyone who had come across a black and red scooter, with handlebars, that may have turned up "overnight" to contact police.